Washington Post Radio considers hiring Glenn Beck

In a June 7 Washington Post article, staff writer Paul Farhi wrote: "Faced with continuing financial losses and stubbornly low ratings for Washington Post Radio," WTWP owner Bonneville International Corp. is "considering" picking up "a show hosted by conservative Glenn Beck." Farhi added: "However, both Bonneville and The Post must agree on all programming decisions." As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, Beck -- who hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and a nightly program on CNN Headline News, and joined ABC's Good Morning America as a regular contributor in January 2007 -- has repeatedly spouted inflammatory comments about Muslims, Arabs, Mexicans, and female guests on his radio and television programs, a tendency that went unmentioned by Farhi.

Beck has said of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): "[S]he's the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?" He once asked then-Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever elected to Congress: "OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. ... [W]hat I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " He has said that he "wouldn't vote for [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT] as president ... because of the way the Middle East would use it," but also asserted, "That's not saying the same thing as I wouldn't vote for a Jew for president." More recently, he speculated whether the wife of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was under the influence of "some sort of ... date rape drug."

The article quoted Jim Farley, vice president of news for Bonneville, as saying that the station is in need of "more conversational elements" and also included quotes from Joel Oxley, Bonneville's top local executive, who stated, "Beck is an interesting guy. ... He does a good job in some other markets."

—K.H.