Three full days after Beckapolooza, the front page of the Washington Post's web site featured at least six links to Glenn Beck-related content earlier today:
There's certainly merit in major news organizations taking an in-depth look at Beck -- the factual and logical merits of his claims, the consistency of his arguments, etc. But phrases like “virtually nothing objectionable was said” and “rally recap fills an hour” suggest coverage for the sake of coverage.
And there were two more links in a separate front-page box that disappeared as I was writing this, so perhaps even the Post is starting to think there are more important things to cover. Then again, maybe not: Here's the front of the Post's On Faith site:
That's four boxes featuring Beck, including the main box, which gives Beck and the President of the United States equal prominence. Beck is, after all, one of America's foremost spiritual leaders (right up there with Sarah Palin.)
In 2002, 100,000 anti-war protesters got an article in the Washington Post's Metro section. In 2010, Glenn Beck gets wall-to-wall coverage in the Post for days on end.
And remember: Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander and executive editor Marcus Brauchli claim the Post needs to be more responsive to conservatives.