From Politico's December 5 article, “Right-wing talkers go for the gold”:

For years a certain strain of conservative thought has held that there was one sure hedge against economic depression, civil disorder and liberal rule - gold. Now that belief has led to a kind of harmonic convergence between ideology and commerce.

Anyone tuning in to conservative talk radio or Fox News's Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck shows is bombarded by commercials for gold, mainly in the form of collectible coins, with announcers intoning that inflation and deficits caused by big government spending are devaluing the dollar and making gold the best investment money can buy.

The dire tone sounded in the ads often echo the occasionally apocalyptic economic forecasts of the shows' hosts, many of whom have endorsement contracts with the gold retailers, appear in their ads, or have had their executives as guests to trash the economic course set by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, and to preach the attractions of gold.

[...]

And it's become an increasingly profitable synergy for everyone involved - the retailers, the networks and an array of hosts including O'Reilly and Beck, as well as radio talkers Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Fred Thompson and G. Gordon Liddy.

This year, Goldline boasted it had become “the exclusive gold and precious metals company” of both Levin's show and the one hosted by Thompson. Other Goldline endorsers include Beck, Ingraham, Miller and Lars Larson.

[...]

Beck, who has taken to comparing the state of the U.S. economy to that of modern day Zimbabwe or pre-Hitler Germany, has been urging his viewers to invest in gold, and bragging about his own gold investments since at least last year.

“I know that you've been listening and watching my shows,” he said in a promo incorporated into a “Beck talks” video on his website.

“If you've been watching for any length of time, and you still haven't looked into buying gold, what's wrong with you? I was going to say 'are you just a reporter for the New York Times?' but I don't think they actually watch. They just write about it.

”I think you're nuts. When the system eventually collapses, and the government comes with guns and confiscates, you know, everything in your home and all your possessions, and then you fight off the raving mad cannibalistic crowds that Ted Turner talked about, don't come crying to me. I told you: get gold."

But Beck has recently come under fire from liberals alleging a conflict of interest. The criticism spiked after he used one of his trademark blackboard illustrations to provide tips for weathering “the three scenarios that we could be facing: recession, depression or collapse.” In the case of a total collapse of the economic system, he recommended that his viewers construct “fruit cellars” and rely on what he called “the three G system. It's God, gold and guns.”

The Democrat-aligned watchdog group Media Matters asserted the segment was a “reward” to his gold advertisers, while liberal MSNBC host Keith Olbermann charged that Beck is “in it for the money. He keeps trying to sell people gold, largely because a disproportionate number of his advertisers sell people gold.”

Peter Epstein, president of Merit Financial Services, which advertises on Beck's show, says gold retailers expect favorable coverage from commentators on whose shows they pay to advertise. “You pay anybody on any network and they say what you pay them to say,” said Epstein. “They're bought and sold.”

Beck, who through a publicist declined to comment for this story, addressed the Media Matters allegation on his Thursday show, saying “So, I shouldn't make money?” And he made the point that he touted gold before he became a Goldline endorser, and urges viewers to study and pray before investing in it.

Previously:

Glenn Beck promotes gold to audience while profiting from gold investment firms

Advertising with Beck pays off

Beck mocks MMFA for noting that he shills for gold while profiting from gold firms