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Needless to write, Beck has been having a field day with this "web of lies in their war on Glenn Beck." Consider the deceptions of that headline: it was one, possible mistake that Carusone has updated on the story, not a "web" and not a "lie." Media Matters has not declared war on Beck per se, but he clearly is taking it personally. Beck called it a "poorly researched article" without noting that Carusone had written that he had left a message with Premier Networks and they did "not respond to requests for comment." On the story about this on Beck's site, he also never provides a link for his readers to the Media Matters story although he provides hot links to a Mediaite story and to one on his fake news site, The Blaze. Both of those articles are based upon MacNichol's claim to have spoken with someone at Premiere. MacNichol, at least, did update her story to point out that Carusone had updated his story, something Beck fails to mention. That update on the Media Matters story reads:
UPDATE: Several outlets have called into question the veracity of the data included in this post. We compiled our information from two separate sources. First, on March 25, Radio Business Report - a radio industry publication - published a report indicating that Beck had fallen below 400 stations. Second, we purchased industry data from PrecisionTrak - considered to be the industry leader in compiling radio station information. An analysis of the PrecisionTrak data corroborated the RBR report. If either RBR or PrecisionTrak update their data, we will change this post accordingly. Additionally, if we receive comment or clarification on our report from Premiere Radio Networks - which we asked for prior to publishing this item - we will update our website.
This Review has left multiple messages with Premiers Radio Networks to request the correct number of stations now carrying Beck's morning zoo commentary and propaganda show with no response to date. Also, an e-mail was sent to MacNichol to ask who at Premier she spoke with. No response has been received from her either. So far, it is only her word that Beck and his staff are taking as fact; so, unless he shows some documentation from "Premiere" Radio Networks showing that he is indeed carried by more than 400 stations, skepticism is merited. With Glenn Beck, who routinely makes false claims, it is better to verify and not trust him even though he claims that he can be trusted!
Charity? Four days passed before Beck mentioned the Red Cross on his Fox show.
This article by Carusone was clearly published on the Media Matters site prematurely. He so wanted to catch Beck's advertisement (seen above) as false that he published a story that should have waited. There was no rush because Beck's advertisement was not going anywhere. This research did not involve news or a spoken claim that was being fact-checked. The last thing an organization involved in a war wants to do is to give the opposition ammunition with which to use against it. By rushing this piece onto Media Matters website, that is precisely what Carusone has done. However, the facts in this matter have not yet been settled. Until someone at Premiere Radio Networks returns a call to Media Matters or this Review, it's possible that MacNichol is wrong or that she lied. After all, when she left Mediaite, Beck made it a point to swing by and let her know that she'll be missed. That is a bit too chummy for the reporter and her subject of interest. There seems to be more to this story than what is seen by Glenn Beck's gullible followers, and that is usually the case about Beck's tall tales.
Update, 4/3/11: A third source, Radio Ink, indicates that they heard back from Premiere Radio Networks indicating that Beck's affiliate list is above 430. It's worth reading because it divulges the e-mail they received from Carusone asking them to change their information.(1) Beck is not right very often, but he is correct when he claims that truth has no agenda. It is Beck's lies that have an agenda, and Media Matters needs to stick with the truth no matter where it leads. The truth is the weapon to wield against Glenn Beck, not misinformation or even jumps to premature conclusions.
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7 comments:
Interesting that there are conflicting findings. What's up with Premiere responding to one person but not the other? Very odd. That actually ends up reflecting poorly on them!
Anyway, I predict Beck's radio show will continually get dropped, especially in the larger cities. He throws in the extra crazy on the radio, and somewhat tames himself for TV... but that's not saying much. It's become a turn-off to mild conservatives. Only the hardcore nutjobs are still with him!
creesa.com
creesa, to answer your first question: I don't know. They might be busy. I don't think MacNicol's unwillingness to get back to me reflects well on her, but she might be busy. At this point, this is still an open question. I am confident that Media Matters will correct their story if they are wrong.
There are hardcore nutjobs starting to question Beck at this point, but sadly, not many. It's clear that Beck appeals to persons of epistemological and ethical shortcomings. On one hand it's a matter of their biased assimilation of facts and they want him to be right. So, for them, he is. On the other hand, their inability to recognize Beck's glaring and numerous hypocrisies suggest a lack of moral reasoning. No one supports hypocrites, his hardcore nutjobs seem to reason, therefore Beck is not a hypocrite. He claims he's a man of honor, and that's all they hear due to shared values and hatreds.
I used to believe that all I had to do was to prove that Beck lies and demonstrates regular hypocrisy, and people would drop him in a heartbeat. That was when I was naive about bias and ignorant about Beck's propaganda genius.
Can't agree with you more. Beck was able to convince his die hard supporters, that there is a massive conspiracy theory out there to cover up the "truth". So that way, if Beck is shunned as a blathering idiot by the educated community, that fuels the paranoia which in turn makes it seem like Beck is legitimate. I mean, I see Beck as yelling "prove it!", and when proof is shown to him, that contradicts his views, he would merely say the proof was a lie. I bet that is why Beck is carefull not to have public confrontations, it would be too easy to blow over his house of cards. And somehow his supporters can not see the lunacy of the whole thing.
Propaganda genius, yes. Irresponsible would be a good descriptive to use as well.
Oh no, as soon as you try to prove one of his lies, they'll claim your source is part of the "lame stream media" and will refuse to listen to reason. Namecalling usually follows shortly after. Then they use that "do your own homework" nonsense he preaches, claiming that proves he's telling the truth, and their "research" backs him up. I wrote a little blog post about this a few days ago. :)
He's definitely turned away the more intelligent, educated conservatives for the most part. I think he's hanging onto the uber-religious overly-old fashioned "family values" types. I don't even think crazy-ass Breitbart wants anything to do with him anymore! Actually I could be wrong on that... haha
I would like to read your blog post about this. If you come back, please leave the URL.
The source of fact-checking that Beck is most successful de-legitimizing is Media Matters. Of course, his followers love him and take what he claims as sacrosanct; so when Beck attacks Media Matters, he renders them as having no credibility.
When Media Matters announced a campaign of sabotage against Fox, that did not help their credibility as a fact-finding organization. Now their fact-checking is put into doubt. Are they being honest or just operating politically? Beck has used this story, where Carusone seems to have his facts wrong, as "proof" that Media Matters is not credible although he's been hypocritically making that case for a while now.
You're very right. Media Matters should triple-check their facts before going public. Rather than proclaiming a war on Beck, they should've just continued what they were doing - daily articles dissecting his radio and tv shows. Any error they may make is now like super-ammo from Beck's corner, and ends up making them look bad... but of course his audience would already be quite leery of them.
I got your email btw, and wrote back this morning. :) Cheers
To be clear, MM didn't go to war on Beck; they went to war on the Fox propaganda channel where Beck works. In that sense, it has little to do with that war on Fox and more to do with Beck getting his facts right or not.
The point of this piece by Carusone seems trite compared with the many other lies that Beck routinely tells.
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