“I See This As The Alamo”
Reporting from New York — Before Glenn Beck started his new show on Fox News in January, he sat down with Roger Ailes, the network’s chief executive, to make sure they were on the same page.
“I wanted to meet with Roger and tell him, ‘You may not want to put me on the air. I believe we are in dire trouble, and I will never shut up,’ ” said the conservative radio host.
But before Beck could say anything, Ailes shared a message of his own: The country faced tough times, he said, and Fox News was one of the only news outlets willing to challenge the new administration.
“I see this as the Alamo,” Ailes said, according to Beck. “If I just had somebody who was willing to sit on the other side of the camera until the last shot is fired, we’d be fine.”
That couldn’t have suited Beck more. In making the jump to the top-rated cable news channel from HLN, where he had a show for two years, he hoped to alert more people to one of his consuming fears: that the government’s handling of the economic crisis is ushering in an era of socialism.
“Look in your rear-view mirror; we just passed France,” he said. “I think our country is on the verge of disintegration.”
Beck’s indignant critiques of the Obama administration and gloomy outlook on the nation’s financial health have found near-instant resonance. His eponymous 2 p.m. PST program averaged nearly 2.2 million viewers last month — double the number the time slot attracted the previous February and a remarkable amount for the afternoon. That made “Glenn Beck” the third most-watched program in all of cable news for the month, after Bill O’Reilly’s and Sean Hannity’s evening shows.
“I look at the ratings every day shocked,” Beck said on a recent afternoon, sitting shoeless in his Midtown office as snow pelted the Manhattan skyline behind him.
But he believes he knows why viewers are tuning in: “People know in their gut that something’s not right. They’re not getting the truth.”
A similar challenging tone can be heard across Fox News, which has embraced its role as an opposition voice to the new administration. The network’s pundits have incredulously questioned President Obama’s fiscal policies, while its correspondents have dogged stories like the White House plan to oversee the 2010 census.
“I think we’ve been doing a very good job of trying to point out some things that maybe some other news organizations haven’t pointed out,” said Bill Shine, the network’s senior vice president of programming. “We’re kind of looking for things that people aren’t being told.”
The network’s tenor has not gone unnoticed.
“I think it’s fair to say that I don’t always get my most favorable coverage on Fox, but I think that’s part of how democracy is supposed to work,” Obama told “Fox News Sunday†host Chris Wallace last month.
The approach has paid off in the ratings. After CNN scored key victories with its election coverage last year, Fox News has now regained its wide lead. In February, the cable channel enjoyed a 29% overall spike in viewership and ranked third among all basic cable channels in prime time.
So much for the predictions that Fox News, reportedly the favorite channel of former Vice President Dick Cheney, wouldn’t fare well in an Obama administration.
“I read some Internet postings that we were going to die and wither away, just because we’re not on the TVs at the White House,” Shine recalled with a chuckle.
Major Garrett, the network’s White House correspondent, attributes much of the viewership boost to the sheer volume of major stories that broke in the last month. In addition, “there very may well be a curiosity about the Fox brand interacting with the Obama brand,” he said. “There may be an expectation of a higher degree of skepticism.”
The president himself has stoked some of that, joking to House Republicans in January that he would watch them on Fox News “and feel bad about myself.â€
Network executives vigorously dispute the notion that the channel has a conservative slant. Although its popular prime-time commentators may be largely on the political right, the channel plays it straight with its daytime news programming, they argue.
“There are no marching orders,” agreed Garrett, who said he doesn’t see himself as tougher on the administration than his competitors on the beat.
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I have always like Beck.
I listen to him most every day on my drive home from work…The man truly cuts thru all the bull shit…
We could use a few more like him in this country…
Since the wife and I are currently unemployed, due to layoffs, we are able to watch Glen every day. He brings things up that need to be shown and discussed, and he doesn’t sugar coat anything.
We just hope that the powers that be don’t put legislation together to stifle what he and Fox news are trying to convey to us.
Rock on with your bad self, Fox News!
I know in your own way (influence,networking, no b.s.) you had at least a small hand in getting Beck on Fox.
There’s no “pat-on-the-back” icon so this will have to do…
Give him a gun, he’ll fight with us.
Beck be cool.
Beck be quick.
Beck cut through,
all the freaking bull-shit.
I am watching the Tivo’d show now as I do everyday!
Dude speaks the truth and puts the smack down.
Cheers to Mr Beck
Fox only appears to be a conservative channel becuase all the others are so fucking liberal. Fox is a little too fair to the left for my taste but its a lot better than anything else out there.
They need to give him O’Riley’s spot.
Beck’s not afraid to be a conservative.
Beck’s radio show drove me nuts in college — and now that I’m out and working, I don’t catch it. I like him more because of that.
Have to say I enjoy his tv program, though. when he was on CNN, his was the only show i would watch.
Beck is the man period
They need to give him O’Riley’s spot.
Beck’s not afraid to be a conservative.
Amen, brothah! I have predicted over the past couple of weeks of watching Beck that he will shortly eclipse both O’Reilly & Hannity, whose schtick (for the most part) is getting stale. Beck has been sounding the clarion call for the last 4 years on the border chaos like nobody’s business (ugly pictures and all), and now the rest of the talking heads (and the news shows) are finally catching up.
Beck should take a bow on that one… WAY ahead of the curve in not being afraid to tell the graphic, brutal truth.
i like Glenn Beck. he has a way of cutting through all the crap and telling it exactly as it is. i listen to him every day because he is one of us
Glenn Beck has always been good, my 2nd favorite Mormon.
(1st is John Moses Browning)
Yep and the flag which flew over the Alamo was that of the Bonnie Blue Republic whose capital was in St. Francisville, LA, just north of Baton Rouge. It later was the basis for the Lone Star Flag
Glen scares the hell out of me and why?? Because I know he’s right about the direction our country is heading. Thank God for the young people who post here and for Pat and the website!
Kilemal,
I agree, O’Riely is sitting on the sidelines during this country’s fight for it’s life. He needs to be replaced by Beck.
@ Kilemal,
You got that right! Beck is much better than Bill or Sean. He “GETS” it and understand what we are heading for! I watch him on DVR every night before I go to bed and sometimes that makes it hard to sleep LOL.
Which is exactly why weapons and ammo are flying off the counters and shelves.
Beck is fearless and funny.
Doesn’t care what anyone says about his concerns or urgency about those concerns. I have been listening to him on radio since the 2004 election (his intro the Wed. morning after Kerry lost to the Bush re-election was priceless and hooked me right then and there.
Was glad when he finally hit TV, but not so happy it was CNN. But somehow I knew he was destined for FOX.
“fair and balanced” is to be fair to the people by giving balance to all the MPM marxist propaganda media.
Steve Colberg? has been attacking Beck lately and instead off addressing the issues Beck is talking about, in typical liberal saul aylenski fashion he is making fun of his weight??
Beck takes it like a man and laughs!
Bill is a pansey and too opinionated.
Becks Da Man!!!
He reminds me when Rush had a tv show back in the 90’s that they always had at some strange time like 0135, or 0355 etc.. but it was a great show.
Fox news it much better than the rest and if the left tries to silence the last voice standing…..It’s War!!!!
Fucking get some hope
They all were massacred at the Alamo. I greatly admire their bravery, but I prefer to think more that we are along every road and path around Lexington and Concord. The first exchange on the Green bloodied us but they have yet to pay our toll 
We fight long and hard, but to win. Not to be written or sung of as martyrs.
Good viewing is the Glen Beck interviewing Ted Nugent.
Beck is great! I agree he will beat out Hannity and O’Reiley who is a bore. Beck is a bit mis-informed on Islam though.
March 7, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Good viewing is the Glen Beck interviewing Ted Nugent.
:beer:
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O Riely bugs me with his passive sympathy for barry the red.He has become compromised living in enemy territory.(the hamptons)Time to give it up Bill….Fox needs to put Beck on first string.