In case you’ve been living on the dark side of the moon and haven’t heard, the popular rabble-rouser of the right and self-described “rodeo clown” Glenn Beck was fired from strongly asked to leave the Fox News network.
Beck, who jumped ship from CNN and began at Fox a little more than 2 years ago, seemed to be an instant hero among the conservative right. He was often muzzled while at CNN’s “Headline News,” but was given free reign at Fox to be as conservative a nut case as he desired. And the Tea Party loved him! In March of 2009, Beck launched the 9-12 Project, which successfully promoted patriotic values. And last August, he drew tens of thousands of people from around the country to a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, called “Restoring Honor.” Beck seemed to be on the rise.
But over the past year, Glenn Beck somehow lost his “mojo” as well as more than a million viewers from his 5pm. show, going from an average 2.9 million in January 2010 to a disappointing 1.8 million in January 2011. Beck’s radio show was also dropped in several big cities, including New York and Philadelphia, while TV advertisers including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and WalMart started fleeing. So what happened?
Critics say Beck’s message became increasingly muddled and hard to follow or even like. During the early days of his Fox show, Beck frequently invited conservative guests on his program for spirited discussions. However, Beck has spent quite a bit more time sitting solo in front of a blackboard ranting and raving (and often crying) aimlessly over mix-matched topics. For some, it just became unbearable to watch.
Both Fox and Beck are trying to put the best spin possible on his departure. Fox is claiming Beck will host “specials” over the coming years, but Beck is remaining uncharacteristically silent on his future.
