I don't know Zogby and his views and they are irrelevant to my reaction to his remarks about Beck. He could be every bit as agenda-ridden. Is Beck a legitimate news source and commentator? IMO, not from what I have observed. ANd I totally agree with the general statements Zogby makes, not just about Beck, but many of the pundits who are trying to call attention to themselves on their shows. The things Zogby says about Beck rang true with my own observations.
But comparing the actions of his to someone else's behavior always leaves me scratching my head. It is just changing the topic. Just because you have a plank in your own eye, doens't mean you can't see something out of the other one. So your deconstruction of Zogby doesn't change my opinion of what he wrote about Beck, though I appreciate your making me sensitive to some of his own tricks.
What I was pointing out, as a frequent listener of Beck's radio show (I watched one tv show and found him deplorable, but by then I had reached my own conclusions about his agenda, partially based on a personal experience with him- and no- I didn't call his show!), was that nothing struck me as being inaccurate in his description of Beck's style. It is not dignified nor thoughtful nor evenhanded, and I doubt that Beck would let Zogby on his call-in show get more than a sentence or two out before the interruptions began; I seldom heard him be particularly moderate in his responses to those not on his side.
What I took from Zogby's plaint was that he felt this wasn't a journalistic approach and style that was helpful in advancing understanding and communication, and I agree. There is little gravitas or dignity or depth in so much of what we see in purported news commentary. I agree with him about Imus and Hannity, and then there are the true nuts like Mike Savage, but I would certainly throw in Begala, or Matthews, and some others from the left.
From his general statements he went on, using the fact that half of the shows in the past couple of months have been about Muslims as his rationale for using those shows as his example. I didn't see the shows, don't know who the guests are, and can't speak to whether what Zogby said was true. Netanyahu of course is a pretty radical Zionist, but also a great interview. Wish I had seen it. Has he had on some reasonable moderate Muslims, helped give them a voice? I don't know.
You might not object to Glenn at all, and be completely puzzled by my reaction, since I know you agree with much of what drives him. I wasn't defending Zogby, whom I don't know much about, merely saying that in my experience, what he said about Glenn Beck was very true. It isn't Glenn's views that I object to (although I often do); it's his way of imposing and declaring them in an environment where I would wish for more meat and less strong seasoning. |
