Beck's vacation from Fox this week was NOT planned [View All]

Fox caves?

A campaign to push advertisers off the Glenn Beck Show appears to have taken its toll.

Reports the industry blog TVNewser (Fox's outlet of choice for bad news):

Tipsters inside Fox News tell us Glenn Beck's vacation this week from his Fox News show was not planned. We hear Beck was told to take this week off to let some of the heat surrounding him die down. That heat began July 28 on "Fox & Friends" when Beck said he thought Pres. Obama has "a deep-seated hatred for white people," adding, "This guy is, I believe, a racist."

Beck's ratings are great, but a heavyweight list of advertisers fled the show, replaced by companies selling penis enlargement pills and anti-snoring devices, and -- presumably -- paying quite a bit less for their slots. It's long been conventional wisdom that these attempts to drive advertiser boycotts don't work, but the combustible question of race -- not to mention the attack on a popular president -- sometimes creates exceptions to that rule, and this seems to be one.