THE HOMETOWN OF Glenn Beck, the Fox News host, is honoring Beck on Saturday. The native of Mt. Vernon, Washington will receive a key to the city and the day will officially be proclaimed as "Glenn Beck Day."The celebration has caused a controversy as Beck called President Obama a racist over the summer.
So, when the officials in Mt. Vernon announced that the press were not welcome to cover "Glenn Beck Day," the press went into a huff.
My question is this: Is keeping the media away from Beck any different from Obama spinning his message to the network news last week? Aren't they both, in effect, controlling the message?
Or is the Beck case different? As a news person, is he expected to speak to the media?
7 comments:
Beck is irrelevant. Whether or not he prefers to answer questions is of no consequence. Ideally, the media wouldn't pay any attention to Beck- why grant him the pleasure of being in the spotlight?
Beck is a controversial character. It's arguable whether what he does could be called 'journalism' or not- you spoke about that briefly today in class.
But whether people like him or not, he's a prominent conservative speaker who has acquired a lot of attention over the years. That makes him a public figure, which makes him more or less newsworthy. Honestly, people have spent just as much or more time following people who had a lot less to say about anything at all. So it doesn't surprise me that the press want to cover this event.
I think this is exactly the same as Obama's exclusion of Fox. It's like a petty argument between high school girls, only it's the president and a talk show host and major networks. If Beck-represented-Fox can't listen to Obama's speech then the press can't come to Beck's event. Really, people?
Beck gets paid to be controversial and appeal to conservative conspiracists- Obama, get over it. The press wants to cover your event, Beck. Let them. The End.
Exactly. The hypocracy level here is off the charts. Glenn Beck is supposidly a Jounalist, though I believe he is more of a T.V. personality. He is responsible for informing the public in a balanced fashion and must be held to the ethical standards of journalism. Yet, his refusal to welcome the media is an attempt to control information and limit/manipulate what information is shared. He accusations towards President Obama are just as applicable to Beck as they are Obama in this instance.
Thank you,
Shara Dae Howard
Glenn Beck is not responsible for informing the public in a "balanced" fashion. He is paid not to inform the public in a "balanced" fashion. His entire career is based around a blatant bias. Which is fine- people love public figures reenforcing their ideas. Just as long as we're all clear that he's spewing his own opinion, not necessarily the clear-cut facts. If I want the facts, I always do my research after listening to an entertainer, which is what he is. He's a political entertainer.
And while I do think it's utterly immature to deny the press access, I don't think it's an issue of racism on Beck's part, I think it's a petty form of revenge. Incidentally, however, it was officials at Mt. Vernon who denied press access, not Beck.
Okay first and foremost, I believe since Beck is a media personality he must allow the media to be ther...It's one thing to be the most powerful in the United states, and another thing to honor a "Glenn Beck" day
Obama is the President of the United States he has the right to keep secrets and not answer any questions. In fact that's all our late President Bush ever did do. Even though I don't want Obama to beat around the Bush it's what I expect from a politician. On the other hand Glenn Beck has put himself in the media and has a show where he yells about his views. He is definitely expected to speak to the media. And if he doesn't want to speak to them then maybe he should find a new job.
It is remarkable, rather amusing opinion
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