Thar's gold in them shills! Fox raps Glenn Beck's endorsement deal

[madinmaryland]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/07/thars-gold-in-them-shills-fox-raps-glenn-becks-endorsement-de/?hpid=moreheadlines

Glenn Beck's dual embrace of gold -- as an investment vehicle for his listeners and a personal moneymaking opportunity for himself -- has drawn boos from various journalism watchdogs. And now it looks like the talk-show host's close relationship with one purveyor of gold coins has gotten him in a bit of trouble with his employer Fox News.

Beck is prominently featured on the website of Goldline International, a vendor of "gold, silver, and platinum coins and bars as well as rare and collectible numismatic coins." According to the site, Beck is a "paid spokesman" for the company. "This is a top notch organization," a thumbnail photo of Beck's head declares.

Beck regularly does "live reads," or live commercials, for Goldline on his syndicated radio show, and has even interviewed Mark Albarian, Goldline's president and CEO, twice on the show, most recently on Nov. 12, 2009.

Critics including Media Matters say it's a major conflict of interest for Beck, who has often advised the viewers of his Fox News program to buy gold to protect themselves against the collapse of the dollar -- and of Western civilization -- without informing them of his Goldline deal. (Politico recently took an in-depth look at Beck and other right-wing talkers gold ties.)

Like other news organizations, Fox News prohibits its on-air personalities from making paid product endorsements. But it makes an exception for its commentators who are also radio hosts, who are allowed to perform live reads, says Joel Cheatwood, senior vice president for development.

..snip

:rofl: Fox News questioning the ethics of Glenn Beck?

Too funny!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. *snarf*

[BOSSHOG]

2. Why do you Hate America?

beck is a patriot who has us surrounded. How dare anyone accuse him of a conflict of interest.

You just want to make him cry.

[madinmaryland]

5. Beck is a staunch defender of the SEC too! Tebow and Beck!

[Initech]

3. Did Beck ever have any ethics to begin with?

[BOSSHOG]

7. That reminds me of a funny movie line

from Paper Moon when Addie Pray looked at her Daddy, Mose and said:

"I don't know what scruples are but I know if ya got em you stole em from somebody else."

[madinmaryland]

10. That is the first time I have seen "Beck" and "ethics" in the same sentence!

:D

[no_hypocrisy]

4. I'm wondering if Beck was waiting for the "right moment" to get his legions into

a panic, a run from the dollar to his gold, using his program to inflate the price of gold.

[madinmaryland]

6. That would not surprise me in the least. Though I do recall Ed Schultz and

Randi Rhodes shilling for some sort of gold thing a couple years back on the radio. Don't know if they still do.

[UTUSN]

8. What's "journalism" got to do with it?!1 The watchdogs should be somebody like

the Southern Poverty Law Center!1

[Fuzz]

9. I love reading the freeper gold threads. They predict gold going to 2k+

and are buying it up as much as they can, at least that's what they are saying, could be paid to do this. They talk of the collapse of the dollar under Obama, etc. All from these commercials and their talking head masters. The entire market is being pushed higher by these people and they will crash hard.

[kirby]

11. It might happen...

But it will be a 'Gold' bubble just like the real-estate or low-interest rate induced bubble. It will eventually fail.