As NewsBusters reported Thursday, Time magazine this week published a rather lengthy article entitled, "Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?"
It turns out this piece is in the upcoming September 28 issue with Beck himself on the cover next to the headline, "Mad Man: Glenn Beck and the angry style of American politics" (pictured right).
Apparently, this is somewhat of a retread for Time, for back in 1995, the magazine asked more positively on its January 23 cover, "Is Rush Limbaugh Good for America?"
The sub-headline read, "Talk radio is only the beginning. Electronic populism threatens to short-circuit representative democracy." The interior article offered some rather ominous insights concerning the direction of this medium and how the Left might combat it (h/t City Journal via Hot Air):
The true masters are motormouths like Hamblin, Boortz, Hannity -- and the supremo, Rush Limbaugh, whose syndicated sermon is attended by 20 million people a week on 660 stations. Talk radio trails only country music as the nation's most pervasive format; it commandeers more than 15% of the fragmented audience. More than 1,000 talk stations (up from 200 ten years ago), and hundreds more with Evangelical Christian commentators, deliver hot chat to an avid constituency. About half of all American adults listen to the format at least once a week for at least an hour, according to Talkers magazine.
The article continued:
E-mail and other tech talk may be the third, fourth or nth wave of the future, but old-fashioned radio is true hyperdemocracy. Very hyper. Like the backyard savants, barroom agitators and soapbox spellbinders of an earlier era, Limbaugh & Co. bring intimacy and urgency to an impersonal age. "If we still gathered at town meetings, if our churches were still community centers," says Marvin Kalb, former CBS reporter who is teaching at George Washington University, "we wouldn't need talk radio. People feel increasingly disconnected, and talk radio gives them a sense of connection."
What's new is that today the radio rightists are wired into the political process. In 1994 the scream rose to the top. These fervent spiels, in which we heard America slinging, stinging, cajoling, annoying, persuading, finally transformed the social dialogue. In a 1993 poll by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press, 44% of Americans named talk radio as their chief source of political information. Listeners tend to be white, male and hep to conservative ideas -- just the audience the Republicans wanted to mobilize.
As the piece moved to a conclusion, it asked some prescient questions:
Will the mood of radio listeners change? Can the hot-talk hosts continue to squirt scalding water on the body politic without one group or the other crying "Enough!"?
One group is indeed crying "Enough!"
That would be Democrats and their current media minions who regularly decry Limbaugh, Hannity, et al as racists while they advocate a reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine to shut them down.
Lest we not forget Time magazine now asking over fourteen years later, "Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?"
It appears Time's had enough, too.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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Comments Policy
Just goes to show ya, 14
September 19, 2009 - 11:39 ET by motherbeltJust goes to show ya, 14 years later and they still don't have a new argument.
Why is no one asking...
September 19, 2009 - 11:40 ET by mbuelIf Time magazine is bad for America?
http://clearthehaze.blogspot.com
....or Newsweek, or the New
September 19, 2009 - 11:57 ET by mattm....or Newsweek, or the New York Times, or PBS, or the Big Three, or HBO, MSNBC, CNN, Obama, Whoopi Goldberg, Keith Olbermanic, David Letterman, Survivor, Colleges, the Public School System, the Sierra Club, Code Pink, Rap, Sponge Bob, ACORN, the DNC, the UAW, SNL, Pelosi, Reid, the Gay Rights movement, PETA, Algore, Rev. Wright.......
all good except...
September 19, 2009 - 17:43 ET by mbuelSpongebob is the only one at that list that holds a regular job and values work ethics.
Surprised that Nickelodeon is okay with that....
http://clearthehaze.blogspot.com
...Or...
September 19, 2009 - 17:47 ET by Wildcatter1980...properly put, is the no-longer mainstream media bad for America?
Psst! The answer is a resounding YES!
--
We need to stop calling them "Progressives" when in reality they are big government "Socialists" who no longer value the individual's rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
fill in the blank
September 19, 2009 - 11:51 ET by StayOnPointCouldn't we ask: Are Democrats bad for America?
Oppose Obamunism-Elect a Conservative Congress in '10
I read the article. ACA
September 19, 2009 - 11:55 ET by acaiguanaThe problem is a capitalist marketplace. Only this one is in the arena of ideas.
Talk radio started in the '50's with a John Birch Society sponsored host (I tried to find out his name, but could not - maybe my research skills?) and I remember the local Safeway store used to pipe it over their 'musac' (sp) channels.
Rush grew up in Missouri and I am sure heard this show.
But, think, here's a guy who doesn't need George Soros' money to survive and make millions.
And then there is Air America. What is Air America? Well, it was going to stifle Limbaugh. So was Tom Daschell.
What happened?
Nobody listened.
Why?
They weren't talking about anything anyone could believe in.
The problem with Conservatives is that they:
a) read...
b) agree with what Talk Radio does.
c) Are quite capable of chaning the channel.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
I honestly think
September 19, 2009 - 12:09 ET by StarAZI honestly think "conservatives" watch and read both sides and "liberals" tend to reinforce themselves all day...I have gotten in arguments on sites about Fox and after DAYS, the main antagonist will mention that they don't even have cable. Never saw or see Fox! It's ridiculous.
Hey "Fringe" media...keep
September 19, 2009 - 12:09 ET by Joe CamelHey "Fringe" media...keep your head in the sand...cuz the world is evolving, and you ain't part of it...
X
September 19, 2009 - 12:14 ET by serfer62Yes I see where Freedom of Speech can short-circuit
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Gasp
Hahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha
representative America.
serfer62 - freedom of speech is relative... don'tcha know?
September 19, 2009 - 12:28 ET by acaiguanaIf one goes at a problem with the idea that any dissent is abusive...
Then one understands Liberalism.
If one rails against the 'establishment' it must be OK. Even if it has no basis in rational thought.
If one rails against Republicans, then it means you are 'intelligent'.
Remember the Bell Curve?
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
Will the mood of radio
September 19, 2009 - 12:23 ET by MidAmericaWill the mood of radio listeners change? Can the hot-talk hosts continue to squirt scalding water on the body politic without one group or the other crying "Enough!"?
That question only makes sense to people who hold the view that Right-wing ideas are invalid and extreme and don't belong in a 'proper' political discussion.
And isn't odd that if Time ran an obama-style puff piece on Beck they would probably sell many more magazines but ideology trumps survival for them.
Glen Beck was Good for America
September 19, 2009 - 12:45 ET by allanfwhen he worked for Time Warner's CNN unit. Amazing Time isn't concerned about Joy Behar's hateful anti-Catholic rants or Whoppi's nastiness towards McCain. Only Glen Beck.
Not only Limbaugh good for America, he is an essential part of the social discourse. Beck despite his antics is often on target.
Would you rather a discussion with Ann Curry or Rush Limbaugh, Joy Behar or Glen Beck.
Beck and blogs are now doing real journalism
September 19, 2009 - 12:50 ET by jefflebowskiThe Fringe Media (as Beck calls them) is nothing more than a propaganda arm of the Obama administration. Bloggers and people like Beck are doing real investigative journalism. When was the last time the mainstream media uncovered a big story? Hell, they won't even report on ACORN! They have no more credibility than those Hollywood type shows.
Angry White Dude
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Hollywood Type
September 19, 2009 - 13:07 ET by allanfFunny you should mention it. The Today Show is not that different than Entertainment Tonight. It's not really news. The premise is that the viewer identifies with Matt, Al, Ann and Meredith. They are your friends. Of necesisty the hosts cannot be too cerebral. Ann is the quintessential celebrity groupie.
ABC's GMA is only slightly better. It was run by the entertainment divison for years. While Cuomo and Stephanopolus are substantial Democratic political operatives, Diane Sawyer plays the groupie role and is hardly better than Curry.
As for CBS. Harry Smith may well be the most biased news entertianer in televsion.
"I honestly think
September 19, 2009 - 12:58 ET by notonmywatch"I honestly think "conservatives" watch and read both sides"
I don't think that's a rational thing to do. What's the "other side"? Articles like this Time article? That's propaganda; lies and manipulations. There is no "other side" as far as I'm concerned. Only a tribalistic set of beliefs that make no sense outside of some kind of religion.
___________________________________________________________
Graphical conservative commentary - animations & pictures for posting on forums
it helps this way
September 19, 2009 - 13:04 ET by jon_torlinWatching or at least looking at both sides helps a conservative make an informed decision or conclusion. By keeping liberalism around, it serves as a reminder of what NOT to be like.
-Jon
Gotta keep an eye on the opposition
September 19, 2009 - 15:36 ET by StarAZI stand by what I said.
Beck is a Socialist in Conservative Clothing
September 19, 2009 - 13:12 ET by SterlingQuite clever how you changed the subject to an article written a decade and a half ago; three cheers to your sophism sir! Question: Is Glenn Beck bad for America? Answer: Yes. First let us take a look at his populism. Mr. Beck is playing with fire when he plays to the crowd. He uses the tools of a megalomaniac to gain his following. First, he attacks someone who is more powerful than him to raise his station in life; thus gaining a following as the “underdog”. Second, he has ordered his 9/12 project as a quasi-religion. You have the true believers of liberty on his side ratting on fellow citizens whom they deem as usurpers. This is quite troubling. Lastly, is it not so funny how you so-called conservatives have been drawn to him; he is a follower of Thomas Paine! Thomas Paine was one of the first socialist to have a voice in the American Republic- I suggest some of you read his other works like The Rights of Man- it was a rebuttal to Edmund Burke the father of modern day conservatism. The ignorance of history is astonishing!
yuck yuck
September 19, 2009 - 13:16 ET by MrShyWho would like to take the first crack at firmly putting this hypocritical, projecting idiot in his place?
I need a break from posting and want to step outside to play some basketball with my white, black, hispanic and Asian friends who all share the same love.
beck
September 19, 2009 - 14:04 ET by katainkentis a libertarian a constitutionalist and probably has deep roots in his faith. You know you can follow the writings of a person and not completely endorse every single thing they've ever said. Right? Small government, fiscal responsibility. Adherance to the powers for governning bodies as set in the Constitution. If that is what Beck believes in, then we have common ground. I follow no one.
I know this is the bash du jour for Beck and its hilarious what people try.
____________________________________________
The Emperor, he has no clothes
Beck= Charlatan
September 19, 2009 - 14:28 ET by SterlingKudos to you for even attempting to take a stab at my analytical observations; but you did not pass the test. Clearly, The Rights of Man is not some obscure book written by Thomas Paine one weekend. It was his Political Manifesto that laid out his ideology. In it were radical ideas like redistributing land ownership from one class to another. Breaking the covenant from pass generations to create a larger more violent government. It is quite striking that Beck should bring up Paine as his ideological hero- is not Beck like Paine; advocating or at least enflaming the embers for a violent revolution like that of the French? He is a charlatan posing as a populist and playing upon fears to only enrich himself. In fact, I think he has more nefarious objectives than merely lining his pockets with gold…. He seeks power and he is using the crowd to gain this. When was the last time you heard Rush Limbaugh ask his audience to attend rallies, harass congress people, or delve into the personal relations of policy makers?
P.S.
September 19, 2009 - 14:53 ET by SterlingAdditionally, Beck is a coward. When the beautiful ladies of The View savaged him in front of a national audience what did he do; the wimp ran and hid. He was so embarrassed by those vixens that he could not even show his face on TV for three days! That my friends is what happens when people confront a bully; the bully cowers in the corner and cries!
Speaking of bullies
September 19, 2009 - 18:43 ET by UnsaneThat my friends is what happens when people confront a bully; the bully cowers in the corner and cries! Indeed, this is why your God, His Majesty The Shahinshah, ran to MN for a speech instead of being in DC with the Tea Partiers.
This is ALSO why you ran away for about 4-5 months after you took some serious blows from others on NB. (Or maybe because you really don't have much in the way of arguments, only extreme elitist snobbery and bile, and you were hoping everyone would forget your M.O.)
If you think Glenn Beck is a bully...well, you wouldn't know a bully til one bit you in the ass.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Sterling
September 19, 2009 - 14:57 ET by katainkentI don't care about your analytical observations because then I'd have to care what you think. There are plenty of insightful people here and you are not one of them. You're just arrogant. Occasionally amusing, but mostly arrogant.
I don't listen to either Beck or Limbaugh for more than perhaps 10 min a day driving to and from work - but I've read things they've said and appreciate some of the common ground. I appreciate them for exactly what they are. I don't see them as leaders of anything. They incite me to ... research and to speak my mind. Awful, yes?
My viewpoint on life hasn't changed since I started coming to NB. Now, I just have just aquired a label for it. And the scary thing is Sterling, you and I do very similar things for hobbies - if anything you've shared here is true. I am also an avid gardener and love to cook. I conserve and live a very simple, spartan life. But you are the one who keeps insisting you are better than everyone else - pass your test, per se - for the sake of having read a book. A true shame.
Arguing conservative philsophies won't stop congress from ignoring their consituents. Find me something in your books that will make my Senator or Representative answer his/her phone or send me something other than a form letter reply.
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The Emperor, he has no clothes
On Sterling
September 19, 2009 - 18:46 ET by UnsaneSterling is basically a hate-filled, hate-driven elitist snob who is enraged that conservatives even breathe. See, in his world, we peasants need to SHUT UP, do what HE tells us, look up to HIM, and otherwise remain in our place.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
I got Glenn Beck's autograph!
September 19, 2009 - 17:40 ET by candanceObserve my victory dance here.
As to your point about portraying himself as an underdog to create a cult following - stop proving him right about everything (and stop using boycotts to censor him) and then maybe he would stop being so popular. I very much doubt you saw Dan Rather as a megalomaniacal "underdog" during the Nixon years.
Oohh, you found one person Beck looks up to who has a few contrary ideas. Guess that keeps me from looking up to George Washington since he refused to let minorities in the miltary, and it prevents us all from admiring Queen Elizabeth since she believed in monarchies. Oh, and you are forbidden from admiring Ben Franklin because he rejected the entire notion of government welfare.
Summer Soldiers
September 19, 2009 - 19:45 ET by SterlingOh my, I was just on my way out to go clubbing. I bought some very sharp looking skinny jeans yesterday after work… ladies watch out; sorry but I am taken. I digress; it seems that I hit a nerve when I went after the inspiration of Glenn Beck’s success. Mr. Beck is just not influenced by Thomas Paine, but he actually thinks he is Thomas Paine. The man is a complete buffoon. Look at the career of Thomas Paine he was a socialist property grabbing knave who betrayed all of his friends. He used the mob to get influence in politics and when the mob turned against him he was left a broken man who died all alone. It is such a tragic tale; but when one plays with fire one will tend to get burned. Now seeing that some of you cannot come back with anything better than attacking my honor I bid you all farewell.
can someone please translate this jibberish?
September 19, 2009 - 19:51 ET by candanceSeriously. I think I lost some IQ points just reading it.
I think that Sterling is
September 19, 2009 - 20:06 ET by FeynmanFanI think that Sterling is speaking an obscure, Latin-based language that translates loosely to English as:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
I might have some verb tenses wrong, but I think that's the gist of his narrative.
"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson
thanks for the laugh, FeynmanFan
September 19, 2009 - 20:08 ET by candanceSounds pretty accurate to me.
Oh Stewardess.... I speak Jive!
September 19, 2009 - 20:07 ET by motherbeltOh Stewardess.... I speak jive!!
Unfortunately, I don't speak Shuck.
"I was just on my way out to
September 19, 2009 - 20:28 ET by celator"I was just on my way out to go clubbing."
Who's on your hit list tonight? Isn't this a crime?
If you were 10 times as clever as you think you are, you'd still need help crossing the street. But you already knew that, no?
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
skinny jeans?
September 20, 2009 - 00:21 ET by katainkentwell at least you're back to being amusing.
____________________________________________
The Emperor, he has no clothes
Hey - how do you rate
September 19, 2009 - 20:13 ET by HermanoHey - how do you rate getting the book three days before everyone else? Should we all be suspicious?
Only two forms of government? Find out why... http://www.flixxy.co...
sorry, herm
September 19, 2009 - 20:16 ET by candancePaid for an advance copy three weeks ago and he agreed to sign them for early buyers. That YouTube video is no fake, I can assure you. :p
I know. Just trying to be
September 19, 2009 - 20:19 ET by HermanoI know. Just trying to be funny! I stood in line for 2 hours to have Beck sign a couple of copies of The Christmas Sweater for presents last year. It took him all of 7 seconds to sign both. Worth it, though.
Only two forms of government? Find out why... http://www.flixxy.co...
arg!!
September 19, 2009 - 21:20 ET by candanceYou met him in person! Blast you!
victory dance
September 20, 2009 - 23:06 ET by Conservative Voicecandance, loved the video, made me smile. Congrats on the book
Quite clever, Sterling, how you spam this site.
September 20, 2009 - 07:33 ET by acaiguanaUhhhh
Another maroon.
I was talking to a blithering Liberal, a lot like you, the other day. She claimed that Al Gore was the Oracle of 9/11, in that he 'chaired' a committee that studied Airline safety and that the comittee cited 'hijacking' as the largest risk.
Duh,
Thomas Paine wrote the Rights of Man which is one of my favorite neo-classic works thrown into the mix of ideas during the run-up to the American Revolution.
Your analysis of Glen Beck doesn't rise to the level of comment, so I won't.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
ratting?
September 20, 2009 - 13:18 ET by Ciampino"You have the true believers of liberty on his side ratting on fellow citizens whom they deem as usurpers."
Ratting to whom?
Facts sir, please.
I constantly bring this up...
September 19, 2009 - 14:40 ET by cjbreischI believe it was Time Magazine. It may have been Newsweek. It was just prior to the Republican Revolution in '94, if I recall correctly.
The mag had a picture on the cover of Newt screaming with the caption "The Politics of Hate".
I never saw any covers during GWB's years in office that had a Dem on it screaming with the same caption.
But I expect that we'll see a very similar cover sometimebefore next November.
The G_______ Who Stole Christmas
September 19, 2009 - 18:49 ET by UnsaneFor Christmas 1994, I got a copy of Newsweak with a cover that was inspired by Dr. Seuss and featured the then-soon-to-be Speaker as the Grinch. The headline: "The G_______ Who Stole Christmas!"
(I actually found it kinda funny but it just goes to show how the Left thinks...)
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Best seller
September 19, 2009 - 14:41 ET by Jerry MackI would not be shocked that this issue is the biggest seller of the year. Beck was on BOR and he said that he was treated fairly by the article.
" Electronic populism
September 19, 2009 - 17:06 ET by MikeB" Electronic populism threatens to short-circuit representative democracy."
Ooookaaaay. Improvement of communications threatens to short-circuit representative democracy. I wonder what those fools said when the printing press was invented, or the Pony Express started service, or the railroads first spanned the continent, or the telegraph became widespread, or the telephone, radio, or television.
Electronic populism? Get real! What they are upset about is that the "electronic populists" and the new media have not only broken the information monopoly of the dinosaur media, but that bloggers and kids with videocams are doing the jobs that American journalists won't do...like expose corrupt organizations like ACORN, or use a "Czar's" own words that he is a communist to remove someone from an appointed office to which they shouldn't have been appointed in the first place, or making public Obamandias' own words about how he wants to "bankrupt the coal industry" or how he supports single payer health care, even if it takes 10, 15, 20 years, etc.
Electronic populism is not destroying representative democracy, it is helping to preserve the republic by giving the people information so they can make an informed choice. And, informed people are anathema to Comrade Barry and his agenda.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
oh gosh
September 19, 2009 - 18:16 ET by Forbin001A few years ago I went to a barber, and they had the latest copy of Time Magazine there, now I hadnt read it in many years. I was stunned at the amount of preposterous liberalism in it.
If Im not mistaken, Time magazine is losing subscribers by the bushel. The reason is twofold: One is the aforementioned liberalism, the other is the internet.
I seriously doubt they will still be printing magazines 10 years from now, it will most likely be a blog like the Huffington Post.
Glenn Beck
September 19, 2009 - 18:17 ET by BaabooLove him..
56
September 19, 2009 - 18:40 ET by BKeyserI was asked by someone on Big Government to create a bumpersticker-style graphic based on the Glenn Beck "56" theme he's been recently touting. Here it is. Thoughts? I'm always a little worried about the potential for copyright or trademark infringement so I kept this one pretty simple...
Nice, but maybe you can
September 19, 2009 - 20:08 ET by HermanoNice, but maybe you can incorporate a little more depth to it. Also the colors, imo, are not very vivid. Overall, nice concept.
Only two forms of government? Find out why... http://www.flixxy.co...
yep, tis good
September 19, 2009 - 20:46 ET by PaCadleLike, depends what is--is, What's good for America depends upon what your definition of America is. As is stands at this moment these leaders/teachers/patriots are good for America. Problem is, I'm not sure that will be true. The Obama America won't tolerate these guys and once he wins the battle of quieting them it's all over. Those that can afford it will be gone. Oh my,
Is 'Time Magazine' good for the country?
September 20, 2009 - 11:20 ET by Sergeant ROCKGlenn Beck for President!
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Is Journalism Dead?
September 20, 2009 - 12:18 ET by CrashThis from that non-provocative rag that asked, "Is God Dead?" They might ask instead, "Is Time Dead?"
Admittedly, I've never been a fan of Glenn Beck. However, when I see journalism stumble towards the deadfall along with the current democrat elitership and ACORN, I am thankful for folks like Glenn who did their best to nudge the liberty sucking beasts over the edge. Well Done Mr. Beck!
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose."
My thoughts exactly, Crash.
September 20, 2009 - 12:24 ET by Kat Outta the BagMy thoughts exactly, Crash. I can take or leave Beck for the most part, but he's like a pitbull on the butts of corrupt liberals and I appreciate that.
Mad man Glenn Beck
September 20, 2009 - 13:19 ET by Patriot IIYou bet your bippy he's mad.....as are a whole flock of others out here!! Whats the movie line? "We are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!"
Sorry but this angers me.
September 20, 2009 - 13:53 ET by buddycSorry but this angers me. I have been doing whatever I can for 17 years to try to help TIME go out of business. It is a liberal propaganda piece. It is actually and intellectually dishonest.
I would have hoped Beck would refuse to speak with them and then broadcast his refusal. Today, they are marginal at best and it does him no good to reach out to them. They would never print anything positive about him no matter what he did.
They are NOT his friend. He doesn't need their publicity.
Let's define coward
September 21, 2009 - 17:05 ET by changein2012Beck is a coward? At least he showed up for an interview with people who hate his guts. Obama gave 5 interviews with 5 different broadcasters yet CHICKENED OUT when it came to FOX. Beck was gangbanged by a bunch of harpies who lied about the circumstances under which they met on a train. Populist? Isn't that another way of saying he has an enormous following. It certainly would suggest he is not the "fringe", just check FOX NEWS ratings. Or better yet, let's compare Beck's show to say... Hardball. Yeah, the majority must be wrong, besides, what do they matter in a democaracy.