Beck Didn't Need Mainstream Help to Oust Van Jones

Traditionally the script goes like this: Pundit attacks someone, the mainstream media notices, and the sap is quickly shown the door. The Van Jones affair was a lot like that, only without that mainstream middleman, writes Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. Glenn Beck’s assault took out Jones before the New York Times or USA Today had written a word on the subject.

Indeed, Beck and his Fox comrades have become the mainstream media, argues Justin Miller for the Atlantic. Beck can distribute information to a wide audience and was, in this case, performing the basic function of a reporter. He brought new information to the public, albeit without any kind of fairness, objectivity, or ethics. He neglected to tell viewers, for example, that Jones’ Color of Change group recently ran a costly boycott against him. (More Van Jones stories.)