The American Spectator

Jeff Bercovici| 12.8.09 @ 4:59PM

As you may be aware, AOL is spinning off from Time Warner December 9th. So as of tomorrow, we will be a competitor to CNN's parent company, not a part of it. In other words, I have no corporate interest in pulling for CNN.

Eric Cartman| 12.8.09 @ 5:32PM

Jeff,

As you may be aware that the time line of CNN and AOL's split doesn't address the point of JL's blog. The point, in case you are wondering, is that it wouldn't matter who you work for, your ideological bent would be to use Media Mutters BS criticism of Beck (he does commercials for gold - I get it. He likes gold as an investment. Big ass whoop!) no matter what. You like Media Mutters. I get it. You don't cite their Lefty bent because you are one also. See, if a simple old MBA can get it, a journalist who went to school for four years to lean how to ask who, what, when ,where and why should be able to understand. JEEZ!

Jeffrey Lord| 12.8.09 @ 5:12PM

Jeff..

My only point here is that when one writes a piece citing somebody in the media for conflict of interests...one needs to state up front all the conflicts involved with the "critics" and the writer.

But your use of the term "corporate interest" is interesting.

What about an "ideological interest"?

We here are conservatives...no intention to say otherwise. If you wrote about us, as others in the media fairly do, you presumably would note we are "conservative."

Media Matters is not some objective third party - they have an ideological interest in trashing Glenn Beck. That kind of thing should be noted in a, shall we say...fair and balanced way.

That's all I'm sayin'.

Thanks, Jeff, for writing. Happy to clear the air.

Nice first name, by the way.

Ken (Old Texican)| 12.8.09 @ 5:39PM

Both Jeffs,
If gold becomes a serious "investment" rather than a hedge against fear, I would recommend you both buy .22 cartridges by the thousands for barter.

One cannot eat gold, but one can provide meat for the table...or trade with someone else who needs meat for his table.
Everyone who is not a total dork has at least a rusty trusty old .22 in the closet that can be pressed into service.
Another thought: BBs are a wonderful source of meat on a table. Cheap too.

Ret. Marine| 12.8.09 @ 6:49PM

In agreement 101%. Been doing this for about three years now. I think I may be the one to open up an exchange. Rabbits in the pen, chickens laying daily, two freezers full of duck, deer, rabbit, chicken, cow, lamb, fish, you name it, I've probably got it. But hey why would the leftist worry? They are the ones who believe this stuff magicaly appears on their grocery shelf out of thin air. Because the gubmint told them it was so. Jeez's what losers.

Zapaterra| 12.8.09 @ 6:16PM

Would it be considered any less a conflict of interest if he shilled for McDonalds or Chia Pets? The indictment seems to be against free enterprise itself which the majority of citizens in this country still believe is their right. We still have the freedom to 'take it or leave it' regarding Glen Beck's pitch for Goldline. It is this freedom that Media Matters cannot accept.

Ret. Marine| 12.8.09 @ 6:43PM

Yeah, I get it. It''s got to be hard to think for oneself, of course if you just go to "idiots-r-us one can get all the ammo one needs to prove to the rest of us, you are the shrill.

Ken (Old Texican)| 12.8.09 @ 7:20PM

Marine,
I haven't got a big freezer. A diesel generator is expensive!...and gasoline goes stale.
I have learned how to "can" about anything though, and I got lots of jars and caps for stuff.
All that is for the grandkids though. I'm going to be a little more pro-active. heh. Will probably get my silly arse shot.

Ret, Marine| 12.9.09 @ 8:51AM

Yes indeed, a person with some sommon sense will do as needed. Try pooling with the relatives for the freezer option. I bough a 3500 watt generator at an auction ( $50.00) and have had a 7200 watt for some time to run the entire house, barn and out buildings. Gasoline can stale, yes but, there are products out there in the market that will enusre the gasoline does not go bad, you must remember to rotate this product every year. Canning is something of a lost art these days but not lost to our family. Some 100+ jars in storage myself. I wish you and yours all the luck and prayers for your safety. Yeah we may get shot but, consider there were men in this country who have had the same fate to there resolve. Welcome to the club. You are in good company. Patriots rule.

Liberal Reader| 12.8.09 @ 9:08PM

Mr Lord,

I accept your larger point, if I understand it right. Often "critics" are really in a sense operatives attacking competitors in the media world. This is definitely not healthy, especially with so little transparency re: who owns whom.

However, don't you think the way Beck works gold into his shows is sometimes a little weird?

But let's us just be clear. I don't want to be mistaken for someone who takes Beck seriously. It is unseemly for men to feign or prance around the truth. Beck is a complete idiot. I refuse to believe he's not a repressed homosexual, with all that pathetic histrionic blubbering. Which is fine by me, but I can't understand the high regard in which people around here hold him. Rush I can understand. This other business, never. Is it because by comparison Hannity sounds as wise as Socrates himself? And O'reilly temperate and profound? And Limbaugh another Cato? Is it because he makes Jonah Goldberg read like Emerson? Krauthammer, Churchill? You guys must be up to something, because you cannot really mean all these devotions you dedicate to this absurd disc jockey.

Jeffrey Lord| 12.8.09 @ 11:02PM

LR.....

All these individuals can defend themselves. The larger point here is that AOL featured this story, at one point with Beck's picture, as if it were some major news event that AOL was evenhandedly presenting. Like: it's snowing in Buffalo. But of course, this was not so. The story was not even handed. The Media Matters cite would be as if AOL ran a story from me in which I wrote a story criticizing Olbermann - and failed to note for its readers that I wrote for TAS and and had a partisan view. This kind of info is important for readers. The lack of it over the decades is why the existence of Fox and the popularity of the very people you cite, Beck included.

I don't think the reporter bad or evil. After all, someone with my name could hardly be a bad guy! But consciously or not he has revealed a bias here, ditto AOL, and, to use a Rush term, they just "drive-by"...figuratively driving by, stopping, shoot up the media scenery, then heedlesly drive away, in this case leaving the unwary with the impression that Beck is dishonest. At this point this is seen by millions as a standard liberal MO...and seeing the umpteenth example, I called it.

Liberal Reader| 12.8.09 @ 11:20PM

I see your point. I agree there's some shoddy stuff going on in the reporting. You're right to call them out.

I think Media Matters is sometimes unfairly criticized by people on the right. I'm not saying it's a "fair and balanced," purely objective website, but I think they do pretty decent pieces.

At least some small part of the problem is that many conservatives have come to identify some pretty loose cannons as THE voice of conservatism itself, so when a Media Matters or similar outfit covers some of the excesses of the political rhetoric out there, it seems to them as though they're attacking all conservatives.

I've never saw a Media Matters piece on something the late William F Buckley or Robert Novak said. I've never seen them complain about some outrage perpetrated by that fire-brand, George F Will. When has Media Matters ever done a drive-by hit piece on Peggy Noonan, Tony Blankley, or on something Byron York says on public radio Friday mornings?

By the way, Glenn Beck cannot be considered "honest" or "dishonest" because he doesn't engage in rational discourse. He's simply blubbers. The only comprehensible standard to judge him on is whether he's entertaining or not.

Liberal Reader| 12.8.09 @ 11:26PM

My point, not well articulated, simply is that I've never seen Media Matters unfairly attack a thoughtful, well-spoken, reasonable conservative (e.g. Will, Buckley, Novak, Noonan, Blankley, York), or if they have, I haven't seen it.

It seems like they go after people who relentlessly seek high ratings by saying outrageous, inflammatory things. (E.g., Obama is a "racist" who "hates white people.")

But I get your point too. The corporate AND ideological interests ought to be made clear and be made a part of the debate.

Another Liberal Reader| 12.8.09 @ 11:51PM

In my humble opinion NO media outlet is above reproach! What happened to good old fashioned journalism? What happened to presenting the facts and letting the public decide. Both sides of the partisan divide in this country media are to blame for the current state of affairs.
That said, Beck is an idiot. Even my ultra conservative friends, and I do have them, think hes an idiot. He doesn't deal in facts and half the time he seems to be making up shit as he goes along. He is an ignorant blowhard and I wish the press in general would just ignore him. By paying him ANY attention what so ever they only fuel his fire and give him a platform to be heard. He has the right to say what ever the hell he wants and I personally will defend his right to free speech. I may be a liberal, but I am an American first.

martin j smith| 12.9.09 @ 10:14AM

beg pardon but there was a czar in the Obama administration that quite or was fired in a story featured by Beck. Oh yes, I agree that Beck has peculiar mannerism,but when you actually listen to what he is saying--i think there is a lot to offer. Naturally you are a liberal so I do not expect you to like Glen Beck--and you know what-thats ok-just as long as we all agree to disagree and not play Stalinist shut down of those who disagree. That is my point. Media Matters is a Left Democrat organization period. CNN is Left Democrat News.

Gearjammer| 12.9.09 @ 8:56AM

For every Beck, you libs have 10 Matthews. As for scrutinizing economic conflicts of interests by people who give us the news-let the games begin. How many are invested in the industry of green energy ? How many have friends or relatives who are profiteering trial lawyers, often suing in cases where the media takes sides and pollutes any jury pool. Why else that the scandal of where the tobacco money went is totally a non story. Beck for truth over Couric, Williams, Gibson, Sawyer et al any day of the week.

SJ| 12.9.09 @ 9:41AM

If anyone at CNN/AOL/Media Matters had actually LISTENED to 30 minutes of a Glenn Beck show, TV or radio, they would not be surprised that GB has a deal with Goldline. In fact, he states in the commercial "I was a customer of theirs before they became a customer of mine."

And Fox News would be upset with an advertiser on a very successful show why?

What's the viewership on CNN these days? A little jealousy because that network loses to its own Headline News and can no longer command premium ad dollar?

Look, Mr. Bercovici, how stupid do you think we are?

JohnD| 12.9.09 @ 10:01AM

I agree somewhat with Liberal Reader that Glenn Beck is not the brightest candle in the pack, but what Beck does that I think is commendable is that he reports the news that the "mainsteam media" doesn't want you to know. When I watch Beck, he provides verifiable facts and stories, usually that are the very ones that don't fit the liberal media template of their world view.

Beck (a former disk jockey) stakes no claim to being a great thinker; but what he does is report factual news that the media withholds from the public. That is his niche, and he fills it brilliantly.

Frankly, I think Sean Hannity is close to being downright dumb, but he does the same thing. When liberals call Hannity, Hannity lacks the intellectual wherewithal to debate them, and instead shouts and hangs up on them. But at least Hannity addresses issues that are below the radar, and that is what gives him his audience.

Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand is brilliant. Whern liberals call his show he tears them limb from limb, rhetorically speaking. Rush understands the philosophical underpinnings of the Conservative movement, and argues them eloquently. His pomposity is also entertaining, as it only serves to outrage the left even more. Notice that the people who criticize him never have the guts to debate him.

Liberal Reader| 12.9.09 @ 2:56PM

I agree in part with what you say here: without doubt, Rush is the smartest of the bunch. His talent for talk radio is extremely great. He's the best in the business.

I disagree that there is any journalistic integrity or value to what Glenn Beck does. He's irrational; he peddles absurd conspiracy theories; he blubbers and weeps. Sir, you need to watch a few nights of the Lerher Neww Hour to recall what actual broadcast news sounds like. I'm very sorry, but it's not balling and braying and yawping. It's just some boring guy droaning on about things that actually are taking place in the world.

As for debating Rush. Careful, now, John. I've NEVER seen Rush debate anyone on neutral ground. He challenges liberals to debate him on his show, on his terms, and he always has his finger on the "silence" button. That's his right, of course, but he doesn't get any points for courage. Put it another way: he's no William F Buckley, who TRULY used to dismember the poor liberals unfortunate enough to meet him in the lists.

Ken (Old Texican)| 12.9.09 @ 10:25AM

John D,
Well stated.
You know, though...............I really like Beck's blackboard.
He has visually connected some dots in my mind.
Very instructional.

JohnD| 12.9.09 @ 11:23AM

Ken, perfect example. He simplifies things that way, which again, comes back to the point that he makes no allusions to being some great intellect. He reports these verifiable facts (that the media withholds) and illustrates what they mean.

A few months ago he did this with the exploding money supply. He explained what doubling the amount of currency in circulation does to the value of the dollar. Again, an unreported verifiable (go to the St. Louis Fed's web site) fact of earth-shattering import, with a simplified but accurate illustration of what that means to the grocery and energy budgets of ordinary Americans.

JohnD| 12.9.09 @ 11:26AM

Oh, what the heck, go here, and you will see what I mean. (or Google "St Louis Fed Adjusted monetary base")

How is this not a huge story in the media? This is why even those of us who still have jobs are struggling to get by. Want to confiscate private savings and wealth? Make the currency its denominated in worthless. . .

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE

Margie| 12.10.09 @ 4:47PM

The reason the Liberal Readers and pals cannot stand Glen Beck is because he serves to readily and competently expose the corruption this President and his admin. are doing. The Lame Stream media not only REFUSES to do so, but are willing accomplices. And he does it plain English. Something the Left can't do because they're too willing obfuscating.
Put that in your Left Wing pipe and smoke it, baby.

Margie| 12.10.09 @ 4:48PM

*Correction: Too BUSY obfuscating.

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Chris| 4.1.11 @ 1:40PM

Nice try Soros.People are not as stupid as you think they are.