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Dear Keala,
Our community just won an important and hard-fought victory. After more than 285,000 people spoke out, leading to a loss of over 300 advertisers from his top-rated show, Glenn Beck's program on Fox News Channel will come to an end this year.1
This is huge. Beck's record of race-baiting is virtually unsurpassed among mainstream media figures, and Fox News has continued to give him a platform -- until now.
We launched our campaign against Beck in July of 2009 after he topped a week of race-baiting directed at President Obama with the most stunning statement of them all—he called Obama a "racist" who has "a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture."
Within days we approached Fox News' advertisers, asking them to stop supporting Beck's poisonous statements with their dollars. Nearly 300,000 people signed statements that we presented to advertisers. Thousands of others made phone calls when our staff's calls and member comments weren't enough. Within weeks, dozens of advertisers dropped the show. In the end, more than 300 advertisers decided that Beck was too much of a liability and requested that their commercials not be shown during Beck's program.
In their statement announcing the shift, Fox News trumpeted Beck's ratings success. In reality, Beck's audience and ratings have been on the decline. Fox has also steadily refused to admit the obvious impact that the loss of more than 300 blue chip advertisers has on their bottom line. Beck's only advertisers have been lower-tier brands that could not have earned Fox News as much revenue as the upper-level brands—thus turning a show that should have been a top earner into a financial liability.
Together, we've succeeded in doing something very important. We've helped hammer home the message that deception and race-baiting are not acceptable for a "news" network and that everyday people will hold accountable those who are responsible.
Beck will remain with Fox News Channel as a producer, and we'll be watching for what might come from that. And we'll continue to push back on Fox's race-baiting problem, which of course goes beyond Beck. But today's victory is important: Beck's voice, his incessant conspiracy theories, his dangerous incitement to violence, his casual race-baiting—all of these will be gone from television by year's end. And that's something for which we should all be proud.
We want to thank CREDO, Media Matters, MoveOn.org, and StopBeck—all of whom played critical roles in the effort. But more than anyone, we want to thank YOU, our members, who helped us win this important victory. We couldn't have done it without you.
Remember, ColorOfChange.org is powered by you, our members—your energy and your dollars. Our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. If you can support our work financially, whatever the amount, please click the link below:
http://www.colorofchange.org/donate
Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
April 7th, 2011
1. "Glenn Beck to End Daily Fox News Program," The New York Times, 4-6-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/805?akid=1949.1089736.wbIeKQ&t=4
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Keala M. Jacobs
Senior Beauty Consultant
(803) 386-9589
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