Glenn Beck Makes Waves
Controversial and incredibly popular TV personality and radio host Glenn Beck has ruffled some feathers around the country, causing reputable advertisers and big name companies to request that their commercials not be shown during his time frame. A few weeks back, not long before Beck went on vacation, he made a comment about President Obama that hit some people the wrong way. The waves started churning even more when Beck went onto his radio show to elaborate on his stance.
He called Obama “a racist” and claimed that he (Obama) has shown himself “over and over again” to be “a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don’t know what it is…” (Huffingtong Post)
Glenn Beck did not stop there. Not only did he call the President of the United States a racist (which seems a little off-kilter to me seeing that it was Bush who had failed time and time again to defend his handling of Hurricane Katrina), he went on to say defend himself and reiterate his stance on his radio show.
Well, it has come back to haunt him. While his ratings are through the roof thanks to the health care debate, his advertisers are pulling out. A total of 33 advertisers have pulled out, preferring not to be advertised on such a platform.
The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that “we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts.” The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that it has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.(AP)
UPDATE: 13 more advertisers have dropped the Glenn Beck show from their list. Ancestry.com, AT&T, Blaine Labs Inc., Campbell Soup Company, Clorox, Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Farmers Insurance Group, Johnson & Johnson (makers of Tylenol), Lowe’s, NutriSystem, Sprint, The UPS Store and Verizon Wireless.
Glenn Beck’s Dilemma
The dilemma that both Fox and Glenn Beck are now facing is how this will affect their funds. While Fox is discussing dropping the advertising price during his show, they are weary because his is one of the top rated and watched shows that they have. Dropping the price might entice advertisers to continue paying and showing their commercials during Glenn Beck’s show, but then again, it might backfire.
Glenn Beck’s Historical Contradictions
Does he really mean what he’s saying, or is it something he said for the fame and fortune that ultimately backfired on him as his advertisers pull out? If we take a look at his history, it’s hard to tell whether he truly believes President Obama is a racist, or if Glenn Beck simply wants the attention.
According to Media Matters, in Feb of 2007, Beck was quoted on his radio show saying that Barack Obama is, “Colorless. You don’t notice that he is black. So he might as well be white.” Adding later the following lines: “But if somebody who is me — I say, ‘You don’t even notice his color. He might as well be white. He’s a white guy.’ Doesn’t matter. To white people. Doesn’t matter. That’s racist,” claiming that someone can say Obama is “not black” and be considered just stupid, but not a racist.
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