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I’ve heard this before, many times. Glenn Beck uses bloggers’ material without attribution. Hours of research that folks like you and me (and Trevor Louden at New Zeal) have put into digging through and ferreting out the truth, end up on his shows, seemingly as though his staff has done the research, and he’s the expert bringing it to you, live and in color on his chalkboards.
Well…..
Folks are getting fed up. Strike that. They ARE fed up.
Glenn Beck is being charged with plagiarism, by among others, Andrew Brietbart. The Daily Caller is calling him on it.
(Hat tip Mark Williams @ Facebook)
A number of conservative activists and bloggers say they’re furious at media magnate Glenn Beck for what they call content theft. Over the past several years, Beck has relied on video, audio and written content from others to fill his radio and television shows, as well as his websites. Often he has credited his fellow conservatives for their work. Yet in many other instances say dozens of conservative journalists who spoke to The Daily Caller, he has not, often taking elaborate steps to cloak the origins of the material.Publisher Andrew Breitbart has seen a number of his stories surface on various Beck media properties over the past few years. While he describes himself as “grateful for the many times he has credited me and my sites,” Breitbart says that “sometimes he also uses other peoples’ work without crediting them, making it appear as though it were his own. But especially since adopting ‘The Truth Has No Agenda’ slogan – and trying to deliberately re-position himself as the pious conscience and judge of many of those he took content from – he has exposed himself to his new motto’s unforgiving standard.”
By any standard, Beck seems unusually reliant on the work of others, and unusually reluctant to credit it. In an interview with TheDC, Roger L. Simon, CEO of Pajamas Media, suggested that Beck has committed the journalistic equivalent of a notorious crime. “It is not a question of just doing it right the majority of the time. It is a question of doing it right always,” Simon said. “Doris Kearns Goodwin is forever a fraud in my estimation because she has been caught plagiarizing once. If you rob a bank once, you still robbed a bank.”
A remarkably large number of conservative writers say they feel robbed. During the March 18 airing of his television program, for example, Beck ran a portion of video created by a Chicago-based blogger who calls himself Rebel Pundit. The blogger, who does not publicly reveal his name, says he was initially pleased to see Beck running his video, which featured left-wing protesters demanding amnesty for illegal immigrants. He was soon shocked, however, to see that Beck’s staff had obscured the watermark logo of his website, RebelPundit.com, from the tape.
Much more at The Daily Caller.
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I have heard Glenn mention Trevor many times on his radio show (BTW, the link above is bad). The timing of the DC article is suspect. I know you are mad at Glenn because he believes birthers are dopes.
Yes, he has given Trevor credit, but not always. And what about all the others whose work has not been acknowledged? Bloggers understand the ethics of giving a hat tip when appropriate, and the honorable ones do all the time. What would it take for him to roll credits at the end of his TV show listing his sources? Even a rapid rollby would be better than nothing.
As for being mad at Glenn for his exasperation and mocking of those who are “questioning with boldness” the issue of Obama’s constitutional eligibility? Not mad. Disappointed. And puzzled why someone who uses as his mantra “The Truth has no agenda” would ignore something that in my estimation is the long pole in this carnival tent housing Obama’s three-ring circus.
I agree. I have (had?) a lot of respect for Beck but never understood his birther-bashing. He ruined the gubernatorial election in TX by ridiculing Debra Medina, the tea party candidate, on his radio program about the birther issue, IMHO.
Mr. Beck you are a COWARD and fraud! I hope that when all hell breaks loose, you O’Reilly, Ailes, Murdoch and every last one of the turncoats in your profession are at the head of the line for the Mussolini/ Milosevic treatment. YOU KNEW, absolutely KNEW that Obama was ineligible for offfice and you said nothing. First they came for the “conservative” media…
Could it be that Glenn removed the Rebel Pundit watermark logo because he didn’t want to put that researcher/poster/blogger in the line of fire? If anything, he should have contacted Rebel Pundit first to see if they wanted public credit for the video.
If Rebel Pundit didn’t want to be in the line of fire he wouldn’t be posting videos.