Day: 9/14/2009

WTG: Obama Stiffs Fox News

Posted by on September 14, 2009 at 8:59 pm. 10 Comments :

The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama will appear on five of the Sunday news programs this weekend. Apparently this is a notable achievement immortalized by William Ginsburg, attorney for Monica Lewinsky in 1998. It has since become known as “the Full Ginsburg.”

The difference in this instance is that Ginsburg appeared on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox. But Obama has ditched Fox and replaced it with Univision.

Obama has gone off the reservation in the past, consenting to interviews with Chris Wallace, Bill O’Reilly, and others. It isn’t to late for him to squeeze in Fox if he wants to. That would be unfortunate. This administration has already caved in to right wing pressure on too many important matters – from health care to Van Jones. This would be a good time to demonstrate that the network that is so openly hostile to the President and his agenda, the network that employs a man who has called the President a racist, does not deserve to be graced with his presence.

It would be best if no one from the Democratic or progressive communities ever appeared on Fox News. As I have written in Starve the Beast, Fox News is focused on doing as much harm as possible to Democrats. They will exploit every opportunity to make them look bad and to disparage their political goals. Fox News spends 24 hours of every day debasing the debate on vital issues and promoting incivility and even hostility. It is not a serious venue – it is a circus.

There is simply no justification for rewarding Fox with a presidential booking – or any booking at all. Obama is doing the right thing by turning his back on Fox. Let’s just hope he doesn’t change his mind.

Glenn Beck Boycott Costs Fox News Big Bucks

Posted by on September 14, 2009 at 5:53 pm. 7 Comments :

The advertiser boycott against Glenn Beck has grown beyond the expectations of many, including me. Currently there are 62 major advertisers who have indicated that they do not want their brands associated with the hatred and hostility for which Beck is known. Color of Change, the group spearheading the action, is continuing to apply pressure and they are also asking supporters to thank the advertisers who have bailed on Beck.

Fox News has desperately tried to minimize the impact of the boycott by saying that, despite the exodus of advertisers, they haven’t lost any money because ads were just shifted to other programs. I never bought that argument because advertisers shifting to other programs would only displace the ads those programs already had. There is only so much inventory in TV. Therefore, at best it would neutral, assuming that Beck brought in replacement ads. But he didn’t, except for low-paying direct marketers and locals. That can’t possibly raise the same revenue as Geico and Procter & Gamble.

Now, a prominent industry analyst has compiled data that confirms the fact that Fox is losing revenue due to the boycott:

“According to the data collected, the amount of money spent by national advertisers on Beck’s program per week was at its highest at approximately $1,060,000, for the week ending August 2, 2009. ColorOfChange.org launched their campaign at the end of that week and since then, 62 advertisers have distanced themselves from Beck. Data collected for the week ending September 6, 2009 shows Beck’s estimated ad revenue at $492,000, equal to a loss of $568,000.”

Fox publicists can dissemble all they like, but a rational examination of the facts can only lead to the conclusion that Beck is a bed sore on the butt of Fox News. With his ratings increasing, Fox is incapable of converting them into dollars. At some point Fox will have to decide whether covering for Beck is worth it. Eventually the taint will rub off on the network (more so than presently). Do they want to be regarded as so committed to promoting Beck’s beastly behavior that they will do so no matter how much money they lose? The likely result of that will be that advertisers will pull back from all Fox News programming.

The 9/12 Rally Fox News Did Not Broadcast

Posted by on September 14, 2009 at 3:06 pm. 9 Comments :

Journalist Max Blumenthal attended Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Million (Minus 930,000) Paranoid Malcontents March on Saturday and documented a far more realistic representation of the Tea Baggers confederation than anything you would have seen on Fox News. Enjoy:

Speaks for itself. My favorite part was the English-only advocate who had a bit of a problem with English himself. Overall, Blumenthal produced an outstanding depiction of the hypocrisy and ignorance on display by the Beck Brigades. And despite boasting that the event would draw a million people, it couldn’t produce even five percent of that.

I attended a rally in Los Angeles that drew a pathetic 300-400 Fox Pods. They had the usual array of crayon-drawn signs with insulting and childish slogans, i.e. “Ted’s Dead – So is Obama Care” and “Just Say NO to Lucifer Obama.” Then there was the enterprising tea bagger with the giant poster of the President in African witch doctor attire. That was typical of the crowd that spanned the racial spectrum from Pasty Trailer Parker to Alabaster Aryan.

There were less than a handful of minority protesters in attendance. Yet when a counter-protester showed up asserting that the event was racist, one of the organizers complained that he was offending the African Americans in the crowd (all four of them). But the same organizer didn’t seen to think that the witch doctor poster would be the least bit offensive to anyone.

The speakers were a parade of nobodies spouting memorized talking points. Each was announced with a flowery introduction touting their talent and notoriety. That was followed by blank stares, furrowed brows, and whispering to neighbors in a vain attempt to recognize the honored guest.

This was the best they could do. And this was not some charming little agricultural village in the plains states. This was the megalopolis of Los Angeles with a population of more than eight million. This was the entertainment capital of the world, but not one celebrity of note. And there were no local politicians either. I counted four buses with a capacity of 100 passengers. That means that it’s possible that the entire crowd was bused in, rather than being a spontaneous aggregation of locals.

That’s a grassroots movement as done by Fox-driven, Beck-ified, commie-fearing wingnuts.