Glenn Beck Couldn’t Pick a Side, So No Side is Picking Him

Glenn Beck Couldn’t Pick a Side, So No Side is Picking Him

 

The political world is buzzing with rumors of Glenn Beck and the possibility that he may be leaving (by choice or not) his Fox position. Both sides are pointing out facts; he still dominates his time slot, his ratings are down over thirty percent, he does have a hit website with The Blaze, he is losing stations for his radio program. Both sides of the issue are also pointing out reasons, and both sides are wrong.

There are people writing stories about how it is Glenn’s constant “Global Doom and Conspiracy” content that is driving away the audience. If that were true, then why are shows like Michael Savage, Alex Jones, and even Thom Hartmann actually growing, and growing BIG?! 

To understand why Glenn Beck is seeing a down trend in the ratings we must look at what brought Glenn Beck to the heights that he has attained.

Glenn Beck used his radio show and his television show on Headline News to expose the public to things that they couldn’t find anywhere else on the dial. He attracted a huge swath of people from all political parties and actually made questioning the status quo the “in” thing to do. Then came Fox news.

When he reached Fox the message looked the same but it carried a different note. He started not driving home what he knew to be true, he started “debunking” the very people who made him the household name he had become. His stats and facts started becoming more open to interpretation rather than holding on to logic and reason, and he started giving up the fights that needed to be fought and instead he picked up fights that could be fought without causing casualties (political and social).

Now, I must say that I have never met Glenn, however, I would speculate that when the move from Headline News to Fox happened that there was a decision to be made and that was either to play nice with the status quo or keep doing what had been done to make him famous. All evidence points to the poor business decision to play along with the status quo and become a member of the “Fox Family.” I mean, who can blame him, they start throwing eight digit paychecks my way and I would have to do a gut check too. My theory is that Glenn said, “Hey, we won’t back down, we just won’t push as hard.” In doing so, he gave up what people wanted from him.

It has been pointed out that Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity still have amazing numbers so this must point to the “doom and gloom” message as the reason for Glenn’s falling numbers. The opposite is actually true! The standard Republican viewer will watch Fox…Period, which is fine, if you like those shows it is your choice to enjoy them. The people who tuned into Glenn however, were NOT only the Fox viewers but they were the millions of original Beck supporters who thought that since Glenn was no longer on a liberal leaning station like Headline News then he would be able to really open up the gates and let the truth fly. Unfortunately, Glenn dressed the show up but sacrificed punch and now we are seeing the result. I am not saying I agree with everything he was saying, what I’m saying is that what he was saying was why he drew the numbers that he had.

Michael Savage, for example, is a guy, who I do not always agree with (and he puts way too much credit in his education), but he will not back down from what he believes, and come hell or high water he will hold his ground. He seems to be a man who is not “for sale” and because of that he is gaining listeners, gaining revenue/income, and, more importantly, gaining what Glenn gave up…Influence. The same is true for Alex Jones who has a show that would have been competing with Glenn in the past. Glenn has been called a “Conspiracy Theorist” time and again, but in reality he is more like a “Conspiracy Straw man”, while men like Savage, Hartmann, and Jones take up the mantle for pointing out real conspiracies (most of what they point out isn’t theory by the way).  You can’t complain about the mainstream media and then become the mainstream media, it doesn’t work like that. Today, people are awake to the fact that Fox and CNN are supporting the same candidates, they are running the same stories, and Glenn was supposed to be, in the minds of the viewers, the one who turns the Fox ship to a course of truth. Instead what the fans seen was Fox turning the fans’ once beloved hero into a patriotic front man.

People are already starting to suggest that Glenn has discovered how there is a conspiracy that somehow includes Fox News, which may be why they will fire him. First, they probably won’t fire the man who still beats his competition. Second, Glenn doesn’t point out true conspiracies anymore, according to the fans that have left him, so why fire the guy who can cover up what’s really going on better than anyone (assuming there are conspiracies)?  If Fox was going to fire anyone for telling the truth they would have fired Andrew Napolitano a long time ago.

This also doesn’t mean it is all over for Glenn, but he has a HUGE choice to make, and if he were wise he would bring in some people who haven’t been with him for decades to help make that decision. The decision he has is; do we take the money they paid us, turn back towards our original fight (which was slowly changing traditionally liberal minds), and take on the fight for influence again? Do we learn from the 8/28 event (which he seen as the kick off to something larger, and instead was more or less his last opportunity to turn back to the Glenn he had once been) and apologize to the fans, repent, and pick ourselves back up? For goodness sakes, even Limbaugh is willing to face the giants on some of these obvious issues, what happened to Glenn Beck?

I don’t hate Glenn, matter of fact I hope he reads this and sees it as an encouraging piece that leads him to a decision to become the guy he was on the path to becoming. I also don’t think that his lack of ratings should reflect on anything other than people want to take their stands now more than ever. There are sides being drawn, the “Left”, the “Right” and those who want the truth. For tens of millions of Americans they thought Glenn was a supporter of the truth and for Glenn he couldn’t commit enough to alienate himself from the “Right” and since he couldn’t pick a side, no side is picking him.

To all the readers, find out what you believe in. Take the time to research issues and don’t let your current circumstances or emotion cloud your logic. Listen to Thom Hartmanm, Alex Jones, Michael Savage, Randi Rhodes. Read the Constitution, and most importantly exercise your freedoms. Learn to make decisions for yourself and you will realize all these people I mentioned are wrong and all these people I mentioned are right, which is why all these people I mentioned need you to be an engaged citizen or the whole party comes to an end.

Josh Tolley is a business and behavioral strategist.  His latest book, “Quit Your Job or Die: Discover the Importance of Self-Employment” has been a top ten best seller for over 16 weeks. He has been seen on NBC, CBS, on over 100 stations nationwide and he has been heard from coast to coast on the radio.  His teachings have been implemented by hundreds of people and dozens of businesses around the globe. He is ranked as one of the top 100 business and personal growth trainers in the world and is the developer of many human interaction technologies and strategies. Josh does take on a VERY limited number of personal clients, to discuss this or to book Josh for a seminar in your area, contact Mike with The Annex Project at 626-893-4917 or contact@joshtolley.net.  You can also find out more about what Josh is up to at www.JoshTolley.com