Day: 8/19/2009

Who’s Still Advertising on Glenn Beck?

Posted by on August 19, 2009 at 12:45 pm. 34 Comments :

Gawker took the plunge and watched Glenn Beck yesterday to see what advertisers remain after more than twenty …um… thirty …er… forty have abandoned the program due to Beck’s offensive rhetoric. It is a list that says much about him and his disciples. Here it is with my own comments attached:

  • Extenze penis-enhancing pills – To make sure that blood isn’t flowing into his viewers brains.
  • Inogen One portable oxygen concentrator – To make sure they stay conscious while being disinformed.
  • Brez anti-snoring nose inserts – In the event his viewers pass out, like his guests do.
  • Egg Genie microwave egg cooker – So they have something to suck on.
  • The Jewelry Exchange – Because watching Fox Business Network has left them destitute.
  • SmartForLife diet cookies – Just look at what they’ve done for Rush Limbaugh.
  • The Mesothelioma Hotline – Those right-wingers are all over tort reform.
  • Jupiter Jack phone device – Note to Beck viewers: No, this does not let you call Jupiter.
  • Rosetta Stone language training – To learn to bash immigrants in their native tongue.
  • The Speed Channel – What Beck’s viewers watch when they can’t get the Meth Channel.
  • Oreck vacuum cleaners – Apply to frontal cortex and set to maximum.
  • FreeScore.com credit report service – This is the scam that Ben Stein was peddling.

That’s a nice group of low-rent advertisers. Contrary to the claims by Fox News flacks that they have not lost revenue due to the advertiser boycott, it is plain that the companies above are not paying the same fees that Procter & Gamble or GEICO did. And their consolation that the show has increased its ratings is rather hollow when higher ratings doesn’t mean more revenue.

Keep the pressure on: Color of Change

The Lies That Fox News Viewers Believe

Posted by on August 19, 2009 at 2:39 am. 10 Comments :

Six years ago the Program on International Policy Attitudes published a study that showed that Fox viewers are far more likely to believe things that are demonstrably false, than are viewers of other networks. It’s still true.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (pdf) featured on the Rachel Maddow Show (video below) included questions centered on the recent health care debate. What made this poll unique was that four of the questions sought to ascertain whether the respondents believed statements that were known to be untrue. Here are the results broken out by which news sources the respondents favored:

On Health Care Reform, Those Who Believe That It Will… MSNBC/CNN Viewers Fox News Viewers
Give Coverage To Illegal Immigrants: 41% 72%
Lead To A Government Takeover: 39% 79%
Pay For Abortions: 40% 69%
Stop Care To The Elderly: 30% 75%

Let me repeat: These are statements that are known to be untrue, yet Fox News viewers believe them in overwhelming numbers. It’s bad enough that approximately 40% of MSNBC/CNN viewers believe these myths, but clearly Fox is producing an audience of vastly misinformed, cultural illiterates.

The problem with having a national news organization that is polluting the population with lies about critical public issues is that it makes democracy impossible. And that, of course, may be the goal of Fox and its corporate overseers. Democracy is such a messy affair, what with all the people voting and stuff. If your objective is to manipulate government, you can’t get very far if voters are actually familiar with the issues and are capable of making sound judgments. So Fox News found it necessary to invent a platform of fake agendas to create fear and then purposefully indoctrinate their predominantly Republican and southern viewers to believe in them.

They have enjoyed a fair measure of success in the past couple of weeks as raucous town hall meetings and shrill political disputes have dominated news coverage. There have been episodes of chaos and hostility erupting in what used to be neighborly community gatherings. Television pundits are peddling insane conspiracies that link shadowy cabals to absurd plots with tentacles reaching into evil government agencies. And weirdos with weapons are showing up at presidential events to wander around menacing peaceful demonstrators and anxious Secret Service agents.

It is vitally important that sanity and honesty be restored to public discourse. As people become more aware of truthful representations of the issues, the tide could rapidly turn back to permit a rational debate to take place. The results of this poll could go a long way toward persuading people that they have been the victims of a deliberate con job. That can only occur if this poll is distributed broadly enough to be seen by a substantial portion of the electorate, including those who watch Fox News. Of course, Fox itself would never broadcast these results, so it’s up to us to be the distributors of the truth; to pass this information along; and to expose Fox as the perpetrators of hoaxes that they are.

Fox News viewers are being led around like Ritalin-sodden sheep. There is a case to made that they would be outraged at being so brazenly mislead – if they only knew. Data like this makes it difficult to pretend that Fox News respects its audience. This is the sort of evidence that could cause many FoxPods to revolt and free themselves. We need to help them see the light. Let’s just hope that it isn’t too late.

Update: The Pew Research Center confirms the delusional state of Republicans and Fox News viewers. Their survey reports that a plurality of 47% of Republicans believe in “death panels” compared to 20% of Democrats and 28% of Independents. Likewise, 45% of Fox News viewers believe this myth as opposed to 27% of MSNBC viewers and 26% of CNN’s.