Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:08 pm
On CNN’s Reliable Sources today, host Howard Kurtz called out Glenn Beck for failing to mention the real reason why he has been attacking Obama advisor Van Jones on his show. Kurtz pointed out that Beck has failed to mention that Jones is also the co-founder of ColorofChange, the group that is leading the advertiser boycott of his show.
Here is the video of Kurtz from Media Matters:
Kurtz said, “Glenn Beck devoted sometime this week to trashing a man named Van Jones, a special advisor at the White House Council on Environmental Quality…and why is it that the Fox News host would target this relatively obscure administration official, along with that scary music? Van Jones was a cofounder of ColorofChange. An advocacy group that has been promoting an advertising boycott of Beck’s show over his denunciation of President Obama as a racist. Some three dozen advertisers have pulled their spots from the program, a detail that Beck somehow neglected to mention.”
First off the actual number of advertisers who have left Beck is 47, which is closer to four dozen than three dozen. Secondly, Beck has claimed that he has attacked Jones before, and he has mentioned Jones in passing in a few segments, but never had Jones gotten the full video montage and scary music treatment until last week.
Jones may have been attacked by Beck before, but he was never the focus before last week. It is awfully tough to ignore the “coincidence” that the host just happened to go after Jones as the advertiser boycott carried out by a group that he co-founded continues to gain steam. By discrediting Jones, Beck is trying to take the steam out of the boycott.
He is also feeding his fans a new conspiracy theory that the communists in Obama’s administration are out to get him. I have read some right wing pieces which claim that the boycott is a failure because Beck has seen his audience grow lately, but these people are missing the point. The boycott is directed at advertisers not viewers. ColorofChange is urging companies not to advertise. It is not targeting his viewers.
Kurtz’s piece was making the point that Beck is being far from honest about his motives for going after Jones. Of course, Beck has probably been ordered by his bosses not to mention the boycott or ColorofChange by name. When one becomes an enemy of FNC, your name is not mentioned on the air, just ask Keith Olbermann about that one.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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