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Glenn Beck fails to fully inform his audience of risk. AP Photo Evan Agostini
In response to a campaign by Color of Change and others Glenn Beck has lost over 80 sponsors in the past few months after he called President Obama a racist. While Beck's ratings soar he still seems challenged to gain sponsorship as the list of companies advertising on his shows grows smaller and more partisan. One of Beck's few remaining sponsors is Rosland Capital who uses the conservative commentator G. Gordon Liddy to encourage viewers to buy gold in the current economic times.
In the following segment Glenn Beck, after saying he is not a pessimist, spends the next ten minutes explaining how under his financial analysis he believes the United States is headed for a collapse along the lines of the Soviet Union in the late 80's and 90's. Beck essentially theorizes that because of increasing debt and other economic factors the dollar will become worthless.
So what does Beck tell his audience they can do in response to the coming crisis of hyperinflation? Buy gold of course. Beck interviews a professor from Columbia University and in the end one of the things they advise the audience to do is buy gold. So Beck essentially scares his audience into believing that hyperinflation and economic collapse is a near sure thing and then advises them to buy gold to protect themselves. All along Beck never mentions that a gold-buying company happens to be one of his few remaining sponsors. Beck also never interviews other economists who believe that we are nowhere near the economic conditions necessary to see hyperinflation. Finally Beck also never informs his audience of the risks involved in buying gold. Gold has seen its price skyrocket with the economic troubles of the last few years and there is a real danger that the price of gold may actually decrease if the economy improves in the coming years. Quite simply if one buys gold high right now they may be forced to sell low later.
Usually Glenn Beck's show simply misinforms his audience on political grounds which is dangerous enough. Now however Beck is actually guiding his followers down a financial path that may cost them dearly. At the very least Beck needs to inform his audience of the potential conflict of interest that exist given his sponsorship from Rosland Capital.
Video Clip #1: G. Gordon Liddy tells people to buy gold in commercial.
Video Clip #2: Glenn Beck talks about the dangers he sees of hyperinflation in the future and uses a Columbia professor to urge people to buy gold.
Comments
if you actually watch the show or listen to his radio program more than once, he quite clearly states every time the gold commercials come on, that not only does he buy gold from a certain sponsor, that he did so before they became his sponsor.
Of course, this would demand a bit of research, which you obviously lack.
Dave: First he did not on this show I watched it, and I have watched more than one of his shows so stop assuming. Secondly he should have done so on this show as it was clearly needed. Third if he just says that he buys from them this does not amount to a proper announcement of a conflict of interest. In fact it is really just a further endorsement of the product by him. In a sense his show becomes an hour long infomercial for gold buying. A proper announcement would be "I should inform all of you that Rosland Capital, who advocates the buying of gold, is one of my sponsors before you watch the following segment. Anyone wishing to buy gold should seek independent advice and fully inform themselves of the risk." Your defense does nothing but make Beck's case worse. If Beck said he was a member of the hair club for men would this really inform his audience of a conflict of interest if he spent an entire show encouraging rogaine usage?
Of course Beck wants people to buy gold if he's already invested in it - gold has probably about reached its peak price this week and he needs the demand to go up if he hopes to see the price go even higher before he dumps his back on the market.
If you bought gold at $500 - SELL NOW!!!!!!
Ha! This dude's name is WWGBD? That's like asking someone how their Edsel drives.
Glenn Beck hit it right on the nose. He's been touting gold for over two years now!
If you're going to do a report on Glenn Beck or any other conservative pundit, make sure you have thoroughly done your homework. Because, I can assure you that their listeners have done theirs.
Quit living in the "sound bite" world.
Daniel
Cincinnati Conservative Examiner
Just wondering how this compares to Al Gore touting Cap-n-trade, and carbon offsets to everyone while being the principal investor in the nations largest Carbon Offset company?
Glenn beck... Private citizen. Recieves NO MONEY from Roslind Capital.
Al Gore... Former VP. Becomes the worlds first "Carbon Billionaire" if Cap-ntrade happen.
Doc
I don't see a problem here.
Several people mentioned Al Gore -- similarly, I see no problem. If one recognizes a potential problem and takes preemptive steps to prepare themselves for that eventuality, that's called smart preparation. Al Gore has aligned himself with carbon credits and green energy because he believes that's the direction society is heading. GB believes we're headed for a crash and as such is a backer of buying gold. Yes, both of them could be wrong and potentially lose money. But any smart investor knows not to put all your eggs in one basket, and anyone buying gold or investing in carbon credits based solely on Gore or Beck's say-so is probably destined to lose their money eventually anyway.
God, could you people just lay off of Beck? It seems the mainstream news media is rather frightened by Beck's popularity -- get over it!
Beck IS the MSM. Remember...Highest ratings ever, lots-o-books sold, very popular (mainstream), etc.
Awful desperation huh Witt?
I see no conflict of interest.
I see Beck putting his money where his mouth is.
Gold is a preservor of buying power. Except in times of a bubble blow off. We're probably not there yet....But most people are savy enough to NOT buy Gold at $1000. I don't think it's that big of an issue. Have faith in peoples common sense.
Just like when they invested in the internet bubble, then the real estate bubble. It's all good right? When Chris Mathews and Cramer start hawking it...then watch out.
Gold? Have you ever known anytime in the last hundred years when gold was the best source of currency? It is only worth what the guy on the street will pay or trade.
Ammo is the currency of the new millennium.
I agree with BS Zone. Ammo
Except that Gold is not a street trade item. Never was never will be. You trade it at table for a castle or farm or whatever. It was like a Mutual Fund in the old days. We don't use mutual funds for dayly transcation now either. It's just a store of value nothing more nothing less. Unless you put it in your mouth...then it's sort of like a denture.
so Beck is trying to sell gold at the high point to conservatives that watch his show...don't really care as long as he's only doing it to conservatives.
There's a vicious rumor that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990. I don't claim to know the truth -- only that the rumor floating around saying that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990 should be discussed. So I'm going to do my part to try and help get to the bottom of this.
Why won't Glenn Beck deny these allegations? I'm not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 - in fact, I think he didn't! But I can't help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won't he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?
glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990(dot)com
P.A.Rody says:
"There's a vicious rumor that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990. I don't claim to know the truth -- only that the rumor floating around saying that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990 should be discussed. So I'm going to do my part to try and help get to the bottom of this.
Why won't Glenn Beck deny these allegations? I'm not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 - in fact, I think he didn't! But I can't help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won't he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?
glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990(dot)com "
I heard that rumor also...why won't Glenn Beck deny that he raped and killed that girl in 1990???? What is he hiding????? All he has to do is deny that he raped and murdered a girl in 1990, but he hasn't!!! I wonder if it was a cult ritual.
The Liberal commentators on this site are a "Cult Ritual".
"Mr. Pot I'd like you to meet Ms. Kettle and Mr. Black."
If there is anyone arguing here that Beck has even the slightest shred of journalistic integrity, you have to be talking about another planet. Glenn Beck is a serial liar and exaggerator who puts Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann to shame. A couple of my favorites... Obama is hatching a plan to make AmeriCorps a secret police force with a budget as big as the Pentagon's budget. Also, in Glenn Beck's eyes, there is communist architecture in the building that houses MSNBC (and Faux, too!).
It's good to see the GOP trying to distance themselves from him. So if he doesn't speak for the GOP, or the Dems, or the Greens, or the Libs, who DOES he speak for? A few crackpot Mormon Milleniumists and teabaggers.
Nobody who is sane watches Glenn Beck for information; they watch him for a good old-fashioned belly laugh.
-Wexler
If there is anyone arguing here that Beck has even the slightest shred of journalistic integrity, you have to be talking about another planet. Glenn Beck is a serial liar and exaggerator who puts Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann to shame. A couple of my favorites... Obama is hatching a plan to make AmeriCorps a secret police force with a budget as big as the Pentagon's budget. Also, in Glenn Beck's eyes, there is communist architecture in the building that houses MSNBC (and Faux, too!).
It's good to see the GOP trying to distance themselves from him. So if he doesn't speak for the GOP, or the Dems, or the Greens, or the Libs, who DOES he speak for? A few crackpot Mormon Milleniumists and teabaggers.
Nobody who is sane watches Glenn Beck for information; they watch him for a good old-fashioned belly laugh.
-Wexler
Sorry about the double post, I refreshed and it did that. Wasn't expecting it.
BTW, I just wanted to add that Beck lied when he said Lindsey Graham called him a 'pessimist'. Graham called him a CYNIC.
That's what he is, he'd sell his own mother if she wasn't already dead. She probably killed herself so she wouldn't have to look at his face any more.
-Wexler
"William Wexler" spreading yet even more upbeat Liberal 'Golden' sunsine.
Can't ya just feel those warm tingly feelings of Hope and Change running up your leg.
You people need to study up on economics theory and history. Fiat money is created out of thin air by the Fed Reserve. The more the government prints and spends, the more it dilutes the money supply and thus causes inflation. If HYPERinflation (wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation) occurs than fiat money will crash and the only thing that will hold value are such things as precious metals. (gold, silver etc) Is Beck a conflict of interest? Personally, I do my own research. His comments may draw me towards a topic but I will not accept it until I feel comfortable through my own intellectual discovery process. Thanks, have a good day and, BUY GOOOOOOOLDDDDDD
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