The Fading Power of Beck’s Alarms-NYT Heralds BECK's Downfall

[kpete]

The Media Equation
The Fading Power of Beck’s Alarms
By DAVID CARR
Published: March 6, 2011

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While it’s true that Charlie Sheen sucked up a lot of airtime last week, I’d been watching Glenn Beck, the Fox News host who invoked Hezbollah, socialists, the price of gas, Shariah law, George Soros, Planned Parenthood, and, yes, Charlie Sheen, as he predicted a coming apocalypse.

Mr. Beck, a conservative Jeremiah and talk-radio phenomenon, burst into television prominence in 2009 by taking the forsaken 5 p.m. slot on Fox News and turning it into a juggernaut. A conjurer of conspiracies who spotted sedition everywhere he looked, Mr. Beck struck a big chord and ended up on the cover of Time magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and held rallies all over the country that were mobbed with acolytes. He achieved unheard-of ratings, swamped the competition and at times seemed to threaten the dominion of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity at Fox.

But a funny thing happened on the way from the revolution. Since last August, when he summoned more than 100,000 followers to the Washington mall for the “Restoring Honor” rally, Mr. Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox — a greater percentage drop than other hosts at Fox. True, he fell from the great heights of the health care debate in January 2010, but there has been worrisome erosion — more than one million viewers — especially in the younger demographic.

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Part of Mr. Beck’s appeal is that he seems as if he is about to lose his marbles. But recently, he acts like he’s a little tired of the game. He can still draw a huge crowd, but he looks lonely in that studio all by himself.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/business/media/07carr.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp

[RandomThoughts]

1. What I worry most about Glenn

Is that he is doing the best he can, but is not being shown the ways out of the traps.

He could be trying to show things, but not realizing the complexity, so he ends up showing traps without ways out of those traps, because he is not seeing the way out of traps. And by that he does not help his viewers out of traps, and can actually set some traps doing that.

Although that depends on his goal. And honestly there is an indicator in many things.


When someone says they achieved there dreams, listen very closely, when you learn what a person's dream is. Is it about better conditions for many, or for themselves you learn alot about them.

And most dreams should have balance, but people have different levels of working for what is best for them, and best for most people. And that is really interesting.

And I am still due beer and travel money and many experiences.

[Lifelong Protester]

2. Ah, the sound of one hand clapping....OVER HIS BIG MOUTH

[kenny blankenship]

3. He got too close to the Islamic Nazi Communist Pansexualist Worldwide Heliocentric Conspiracy

a decision is being made and a button will be pushed. They have to shut him up before he exposes their designs for a One World Muslim Aryan Caliphate of polymorphous perversity and socialist medicine.

[emulatorloo]

4. LOL n/t