TheLoop21.com

By: Devona Walker (Add to your loop)
Fri, 08/21/2009 - 12:51

Glenn Beck has taken an unplanned vacation. Was it really vacation or suspension?

This week the ultraconservative Glenn Beck of FOX News went on an unannounced vacation. Sources close to Beck claims it has nothing to do with the 20 companies that have pulled their ads from his show. But TVNewser is reporting something entirely different:

“We hear Beck was told to take this week off to let some of the heat surrounding him die down,” reported TVNewser. 

Officially, Beck’s crime: Calling President Barack Obama a racist. His affronts, however, go much deeper. Here’s a little dose.

On the surface FOX, the fair and balanced network, appears unmoved. They have not communicated with ColorOfChange.org., the nonprofit group behind the boycott. They have not apologized, clarified or excused Beck’s behavior. It continues to behave as if there is no connection between the network and the radial racist fringe it has helped incite or the culture of disrespect and violence it perpetuates. 

But remember, this is the network that called those protesting the Iraq War traitors. It characterized Jena 6 as evidence of black racism. It's moniker: Fair and Balanced?

“Even if it were (a planned vacation), it wouldn't be satisfying,” said James Rucker, co-founder of ColorOfChange.org. “One week less of Beck doesn't change the fact that he has been systematically fear-mongering and race-baiting and will presumably continue to do so.” 

The far right calls the boycott an assault on freedom of speech. But when Sarah Palin supporters picketed outside of David Letterman’s office, the far right called it Democracy in Action. And advertisers, too, have a right to freedom of speech. 

“I think this at least helps people see that there are some limits. It's hard to know what this will change at FOX,” Rucker said. “In any case, I think it helps the entire field. Not just FOX but the other cable news networks as well... Help them realize the nature of what's happening and the fact that there can be push-back, from consumers and advertisers for betraying any sense of journalistic integrity and ethics.”

It might surprise some, but FOX News does not usually face advertising boycotts. Of course, it’s common place for anyone who has affronted the far right: Wells Fargo and Disney have both been boycotted by the far right for supporting gay rights. Even Sesame Street, back in the day, was attacked because it featured too many black children. 

This FOX News boycott is important because it proves that minority communities can both mobilize and make our voices heard. The Fact: Minorities are no less American than anyone else. We have the right and obligation to say to a network, and a talk show host, whose livelihood is based upon ginning up hatred against us: You support Glenn Beck. You support Fox News. I won’t support you. That is also a form of freedom of speech.

“After watching this video clip of him encouraging a guest to argue that the only way to save America is for Osama bin Laden to detonate a major weapon here in the U.S., it made me wonder whether any of the advertisers had actually watched Beck before they bought advertisements,” http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/17/as-advertisers-abandon-glen-beck-... ">said Peter Cohan, a management consultant. 

Devona Walker is TheLoop21.com's lead political/finance reporter and blogger. She has worked for The New York Times Regional Newspaper company and The Associated Press. She may be reached at devona@theloop21.com.

Should Obama officials continue to appear on Fox News?

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