And the Winner is...

Media Matters names Glenn Beck its 2009 Misinformer of the Year

Washington, DC - Today, after analyzing the more than 11,000 research items, blog posts, and audio and video clips posted to its website this year, Media Matters for America announced Glenn Beck as Misinformer of the Year for 2009.

Watch our "Misinformer of the Year" video

"Each year, Media Matters has the difficult task of determining which media figure has been the most prolific and influential purveyor of conservative misinformation," said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. "But this year, our choice was easy. Glenn Beck's paranoid conspiracy theories, disturbing use of race and race-baiting, and tea party cheerleading made him a shoo-in for Misinformer of the Year for 2009."

BACKGROUND

Glenn Beck immediately began attacking the Obama administration upon the launch his Fox News show on January 19, 2009. When he wasn't busy calling the president a racist, Beck spent the year comparing Democrats to Nazis, trying to get administration officials fired, and drumming up support for the anti-Obama tea party movement.

Beck also frequently used his Fox News show to push flagrant falsehoods and was one of the first media figures to adopt the infamous "death panel" claim -- recently announced as PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year." And he all too frequently helped to set the mainstream media's agenda.

Beck joins his Fox News colleagues Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly as Misinformer of the Year "winners."

To read our complete research item on how Glenn Beck earned his title as Misinformer of the Year for 2009, please see:

Glenn Beck: Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year

Or to watch our video, please see:

Watch our "Misinformer of the Year" video

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 Media Matters for America is a progressive research and information center dedicated to monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the media. For more information, visit www.mediamatters.org.