Since Glenn Beck called President Obama a “racist” with “a deep-seated hatred for white people, or white culture” in July 2009, a campaign initiated by Color of Change has compelled “more than 200 companies” to join a boycott of Beck’s Fox News show. In August, when just 33 companies had left the program, Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti told the AP that the network wasn’t losing any revenue from the boycott because the companies had “simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere.” But the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz reports today that Apple, along with a “handful” of other advertisers, have “abandoned” the entire network:
More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck’s program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1–800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.
Kurtz reports that “there is a deep split within Fox between those — led by Chairman Roger Ailes — who are supportive” of Beck “and many journalists who are worried about the prospect that Beck is becoming the face of the network.” While Beck touts the support of Fox executives, some Fox journalists told Kurtz that they think Beck “uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility.” Fox Senior Vice President Bill Shine said “that last fall a vice president was assigned ‘to help keep an eye on that program’ and review its content in advance — a full-time job.”