Media Matters Calls On Murdoch To Rein In Beck, Palin

[ProSense]

Media Matters Calls On Murdoch To Rein In Beck, Palin

Brian Beutler

In a letter delivered to News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch Monday afternoon, and obtained by TPM, Media Matters founder David Brock says the time has come for Fox News to take responsibility for its programming. Specifically, Brock is calling on Murdoch to make Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck tone down their rhetoric on threat of termination -- or to be complicit in acts of political violence.

"Beck and Palin are two of Fox's most recognizable figures," Brock writes. "Before this heartbreaking tragedy in Arizona, you were either unwilling or unable to rein in their violent rhetoric."

But now, in the wake of the killings, your network must take a stand.

You have the power to order them to stop using violent rhetoric, on and off of Fox's air. If they fail to do so, it is incumbent upon you to fire them or be responsible for the climate they create and any consequences thereof.

Brock has warned for a long time now that the subtext in Beck's and Palin's rhetoric could lead to fringe acts of violence. Specifically, he's taken issue with Beck referring to himself as a "progressive hunter," who called on his fans to "drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers."

Conservatives are warning liberals not to jump the gun. And, indeed, current evidence suggests shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughlin's murderous obsession with Gabrielle Giffords dates back to 2007, before Palin took center stage in American politics.

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It's as if conservatives believe that, despite the escalating violence, hateful rhetoric used by high-profile RW/Republican personalities and politicians is excusable unless and until there is a murder incontrovertibly linked to it.

[valerief]

1. Media Matters has ALL the evidence of their hate rhetoric. nt

[Xenotime]

2. They won't listen. They will mount the letter on the trophy wall...

...right next to rubble scraps from 9/11 and Oklahoma City

[ProSense]

3. They're not going to listen because

there are so many people trying to give them cover, and they're not all conservatives.

It comes down to this: There is never a an opportune time to condemn hateful rhetoric because even with a direct link, someone always pulls out the argument that the issue is being politicized.

If the point is that such rhetoric is dangerous, why is it politicizing to condemn it in the face of violence?

The incident is generating a lot of press because the primary target was a member of Congress, not a person in any other profession, but a politician.

[livetohike]

4. So if Loughner's obsession with Cong. Giffords was in 2007

that doesn't mean that Palin hasn't stoked his discontent and caused him to take action. Imo, her rhetoric and all the media attention she receives has encouraged malcontents such as Loughner to act.

[loudsue]

5. Fat chance of that! Murdock LOVES all of this, as do the Saudi shieks who own 50% of his network.

They're bringing America down one news program at a time, and they know it.

[madmax]

6. K&R

[Number23]

7. Kick

[golfguru]

8. Why would Fox change anything when they are

chronically 1st in the rating game? Murdoch don't give a shit
so long as Fox makes money.