Glenn Beck vs. Fox

I’ve always thought that Glenn Beck would flame out sooner rather than later. You can’t make your living as a prophet of doom & gloom if the doom & gloom doesn’t come to pass. However, the end for Glenn Beck may be more related to money than from burn-out, according to Howard Kurtz:

With his celebrity fueled by a Time cover story, best-selling books, cheerleading role at protest rallies and steady stream of divisive remarks, Beck is drawing big ratings. But there is a deep split within Fox between those — led by Chairman Roger Ailes — who are supportive, and many journalists who are worried about the prospect that Beck is becoming the face of the network.

By calling President Obama a racist and branding progressivism a “cancer,” Beck has achieved a lightning-rod status that is unusual even for the network owned by Rupert Murdoch. And that, in turn, has complicated the channel’s efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization. Beck has become a constant topic of conversation among Fox journalists, some of whom say they believe he uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility.

Fox still thinks of itself as a news organization although they lost that distinction a long time ago in my book. Obviously some people at Fox still think they are journalists. The organized boycott of Glenn Beck’s sponsors have also taken a toll:

More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck’s program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.

Basically Beck is self-promoting and it’s starting to rub people the wrong way. The loss of advertisers is also hurting Fox’s bottom line. I’m sure you’ll also be shocked to learn that Glenn Beck practices his tearing up moments.