On the December 17 edition of his CNN Headline New show, Glenn Beck asked viewers to imagine that CNN had hyped “the new Harry Potter movie,” produced by Warner Bros., a subsidiary of CNN's parent, Time Warner, then he asked: “Would you feel a little like Farrah Fawcett in a Lifetime movie, rocking back and forth in the shower, just not being able to get clean? Wouldn't you?” Beck then stated, “If you answered yes to any of those questions, then 'The Real Story' is you should be outraged at what NBC did again last week.” Beck then noted that NBC's Nightly News had run a segment on the long-run cost-effectiveness of LED lights without noting that NBC's parent, General Electric, manufactures LED light bulbs.

Beck did not name the Fawcett movie to which he was referring. In the 1984 movie The Burning Bed, Fawcett portrayed a woman violently abused and raped by her husband, and in the 1986 movie Extremities Fawcett's character is sexually assaulted and stalked by a psychotic criminal. Both movies are listed on the Lifetime network's website mylifetime.com (here and here), along with several other movies with Fawcett in the cast.

While a CNN.com review of the latest installment in the Harry Potter film series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was mixed, as was a CNN.com review of the previous movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a review posted on CNN.com of the DVD release of Goblet of Fire, taken from Time Warner-owned Entertainment Weekly, was largely positive and gave the movie a grade of B+. The Entertainment Weekly Goblet of Fire review noted that the Harry Potter movies are made by Warner Bros., but none of the reviews noted that CNN, Entertainment Weekly and Warner Bros. are all owned by Time Warner. During his segment criticizing NBC, Beck expressed no “outrage[]” over CNN.com's reviews of Time Warner movies.

Introducing the segment, Beck stated:

BECK: Imagine if you flipped over to CNN later on tonight and they were doing a segment on the new Harry Potter movie or something like that and they called it revolutionary filmmaking. The reporter said, it is amazing, a must-see. And by the end of the piece, you're so excited to see the movie that you go out and buy your ticket if you could.

Well, what happens if later you found out that Warner Brothers, which is the studio behind Harry Potter, is owned by Time Warner, which also owns CNN? Would you feel a little like Farrah Fawcett in a Lifetime movie rocking back and forth in the shower, just not being able to get clean? Wouldn't you?

Would you believe that at a minimum the reporter should have disclosed that our parent company also owns the Harry Potter movies? Would part of you think that perhaps Time Warner was using its news division to promote their other products?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then “The Real Story” is you should be outraged at what NBC did again last week.

After playing a clip of the Nightly News segment on LED bulbs, Beck added: “Wow. I think what they're saying, Christians, if Jesus made light bulbs, he'd be making these. Where do I sign up for these tiny but revolutionary light bulbs?” He then discounted the environmental benefits of LED lights as reported in the NBC segment as part of the hidden agenda of global warming:

BECK: Now, some people will argue that it's no big deal. But if you're someone like me who believes that global warming is really all about hidden agendas, redistribution of wealth, and corporate profits, then this is a very big deal, because it just shows how easily the line between journalism, science, and advocacy can blur.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) website discusses the NBC Nightly News segment from which Beck aired clips and notes that Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary of Energy, appeared during the segment. As DOE notes, during the report, Karsner stated: “We expect a revolution in lighting in this country where solid-state lighting within 20 years can replace up to 44 new standard-sized coal-fired power plants.” The DOE website also states about the Nightly News report on LED light bulbs:

The report went on to detail the many advantages of LED lights for consumers and for the United States.

The use of LEDs has the potential to save American households a lot of energy and money this holiday season. If you run Christmas lights on your tree for 12 hours a day for 40 days with traditional incandescent Christmas lights, you'd pay $23.95 in electricity. With LEDs, you'd only pay $0.54 for the whole 40-day period.

If every home in the U.S. switched to LED holiday lights, we could save $160 million in energy costs this season alone. If every US household switched all their lights from incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs to LEDs today, the United States would save almost $10 billion a year in our nation's energy bills.

Beck's own network, CNN, says in a report on CNN.com:

[I]t is expected that the lights will go out on one of the world's most ground-breaking inventions -- the incandescent bulb -- consigning its environmental profligacy of the past.

Thomas Edison's long lasting filament bulb -- patented in 1879 and updated with a tungsten filament by William Coolidge in 1910 -- which has been the blueprint for decades will be completely phased out in Australia and the UK by 2010 and 2011 respectively. California has also made plans to implement a bulb ban.

Alternatives, as any energy-conscious consumer will know, are already widely available on the high street. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) -- have been around since the 1980's and use only 20 percent of the energy required by incandescent bulbs and last 12 times longer.

And according to Greenpeace, halogen bulbs -- which on average last twice as long as regular bulbs -- account for about seven percent of light bulb sales in the UK.

But these impressive energy savings for the home will, researchers think, eventually be trumped by LEDs.

LEDs are semi-conductors that convert electricity into light. They are an incredibly green source of illumination boasting long life (up to 100,000 hours), energy efficiency (up to 90 percent less energy used) and are non-toxic, unlike their fluorescent cousins which contain mercury. They also come in a variety of colors and because they have no moving parts they are extremely durable.

From the December 17 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: Imagine if you flipped over to CNN later on tonight and they were doing a segment on the new Harry Potter movie or something like that and they called it revolutionary filmmaking. The reporter said, it is amazing, a must-see. And by the end of the piece, you're so excited to see the movie that you go out and buy your ticket if you could.

Well, what happens if later you found out that Warner Brothers, which is the studio behind Harry Potter, is owned by Time Warner, which also owns CNN? Would you feel a little like Farrah Fawcett in a Lifetime movie rocking back and forth in the shower, just not being able to get clean? Wouldn't you?

Would you believe that at a minimum the reporter should have disclosed that our parent company also owns the Harry Potter movies? Would part of you think that perhaps Time Warner was using its news division to promote their other products?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then “The Real Story” is you should be outraged at what NBC did again last week.

Brian Williams -- and here's my full disclosure -- I like Brian Williams.

Brian, I think you're funny. I think you're an accurate guy. I mean, what are you thinking?

What happened on his program last week was at best a major breach of journalistic integrity. That's coming from me.

I mean, I don't really know journalism from a molehill. I don't. But at least I understand the meaning of disclosure.

This latest NBC controversy revolves around a segment about LED lights that aired on Nightly News last Thursday. Watch this.

BRIAN WILLIAMS (NBC anchor) [video clip]: If you are seeing this holiday season in a different light this year, it may be because of these tiny but powerful new bulbs that are revolutionizing lighting and helping cut energy use. They burn a long time. They burn cool. They burn bright.

They are now stoplights, reading lights on planes, some car headlights, flashlights. And as we just said, let's not forget about Christmas.

BECK: Wow. That's fantastic. Please, tell me there's more.

[begin video clip]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LEDs burn less electricity, last longer, and cut costs by 95 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About $2 million in savings for the life of the display. So it's pretty significant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's also a big saving for taxpayers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investment will pay for itself within 4.2 years, and then we'll be saving about $100,000 a year ongoing on the electricity costs.

[end video clip]

BECK: Wow. I think what they're saying, Christians, if Jesus made light bulbs, he'd be making these. Where do I sign up for these tiny but revolutionary light bulbs?

Actually, that's exactly the problem. Just like their “green is universal” gimmick from just a few weeks back, the problem isn't what NBC is promoting. It's what they're not disclosing.

NBC is a subsidiary of GE, otherwise known as General Electric. Log on to GE Lumination website at lumination.com and you'll notice that there's all sorts of stories on these amazing and efficient LED lights, and they are being marketed directly to cities right on the home page.

Now, some people will argue that it's no big deal. But if you're someone like me who believes that global warming is really all about hidden agendas, redistribution of wealth, and corporate profits, then this is a very big deal, because it just shows how easily the line between journalism, science, and advocacy can blur.

For his part, Brian Williams did come back the next night and acknowledge the omission, answering viewer email, which quite frankly I believe was probably one of our radio listeners. Williams said, quote, “We sometimes forget who our parents are around here. GE, parent company of NBC Universal, makes a whole lot of things, including LED lights, and we should have said so.”

Yeah. You think so?

And if you ever forget who your parents are in the future, Brian, here's a tip. Just stick your head out the window and look up, because it's pretty hard to miss that massive red light at the top of your building that spells out “GE.”

I wonder if those are LED lights. I hope so.