Dear Fox Advertiser   
   Posted by Drummond Pike in Media, Tides on Oct 15, 2010   
      
   Dear Fox Advertiser,   
      
   I am writing to ask your company to take a simple step that may well   
   save lives in the future. And it is not unimportant that taking this   
   action will remove your company and its products from any connection to   
   what could very likely be an unpleasant tragedy, should things remain as   
   they are today. On behalf of my organization, and many others like it, I   
   ask that you cease advertising on the Fox News Channel.   
      
   This is neither a hollow request, nor one rhetorically made. There is an   
   urgency to it born of our own direct experience as the target of a   
   would-be assassin inspired by Fox's Glenn Beck Show.   
      
   On July 19th of this year, I arrived at our San Francisco office to   
   learn that a misguided person carrying numerous guns and body armor had   
   been on his way to start a "revolution" by murdering my colleagues and   
   me. The Oakland Police Department called to tell us that, following a 12   
   minute shootout with the California Highway Patrol, law enforcement   
   officials arrested an assailant who had targeted the Tides Foundation,   
   an organization which I founded and currently serve as CEO, and the ACLU   
   for violence. To say we were "shocked" does not adequately describe our   
   reaction. Imagine, for a moment, that you were us and, had it not been   
   for a sharp eyed highway patrolman, a heavily armed man in full body   
   armor would have made it to your office with the intent to kill you and   
   your colleagues. His motive? Apparently, it was because the charitable,   
   nonpartisan programs we run are deemed part of a conspiracy to undermine   
   America and the capitalist system, which is hogwash.   
      
   Although not a political organization, the Tides Foundation has been a   
   frequent target of misinformation, propaganda, and outright lies by Fox   
   News' Glenn Beck. Since his arrival at Fox in early 2009, Beck has   
   repeatedly vilified Tides, suggesting we are intent on "creat[ing] a   
   mass organization to seize power." He accuses the foundation of   
   indoctrination and says we are "involved in some of the nastiest of the   
   nasty." Beck tells viewers that Tides has "funneled" money to "some of   
   the most extreme groups on the left" and that our mission is to "warp   
   your children's brains and make sure they know how evil capitalism is."   
   In total, prior to the attempted rampage, Beck had attacked the Tides   
   Foundation 29 times. On September 28th, more than a month after the   
   shooting, Beck reiterated his focus on the Tides Foundation, warning,   
   "I'm coming for you." In jailhouse interviews, the gunman confessed he   
   views Beck as a "schoolteacher" who "blew my mind." My would-be killer   
   admitted that Beck "give[s] you every ounce of evidence you could   
   possibly need" to commit violence.   
      
   Beck is a self-described "Progressive Hunter" who relies on violent   
   rhetoric. Do you really think that the millions of Americans who   
   describe themselves as "progressive" need to be "hunted down"? If so, to   
   what end?   
      
   For hours every day on radio and television, Beck pits American against   
   American, telling his audience that our country is under attack by a   
   demonic Nazi-like regime seeking to destroy all that is great about   
   America while insisting it's up to his viewers to resist and revolt. He   
   warned his audience that "these are the most dangerous two years of our   
   republic. Because in the end, in revolutions, the real dangerous killers   
   show up." Beck even compared our government to vampires while   
   instructing his viewers to "drive a stake through the heart of the   
   bloodsuckers" and pretended to poison Speaker Pelosi on television. A   
   few months later, Gregory Giusti was arrested for repeatedly threatening   
   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- including threatening to destroy her home   
   -- because he was upset over health care reform. The man's mother told a    
   local news station he listens to those with "really radical ideas,"   
   adding, "I'd say Fox News or all of those that are really radical."   
      
   When I started the Tides organizations 35 years ago, I did so in the   
   very American belief that ordinary citizens had a role to play in our   
   democratic process. It was, I thought, the responsibility of everyone to   
   become engaged in our civic life, and for years we've worked with   
   thousands of Americans to do just that. And, while we support   
   progressive values and goals, we respect the rights and voices of those   
   with whom we disagree on issues. Never in our history have we tolerated   
   employees or grantees that support those who would do harm to others. By   
   supporting Fox News Channel, you and your company are risking your   
   reputation and good standing because they are doing just this.   
      
   As you may know, a coordinated advertiser boycott by Media Matters and   
   Color of Change, an online civil rights group, has caused Glenn Beck's   
   Fox News show to lose over 100 sponsors. Despite the campaign's success,   
   Fox insists it has had no impact on the channel's profitability because   
   the overall demand for advertisements on Fox has remained stable.   
   Companies are still paying to advertise on Fox News, but their ads are   
   simply moved to a different time of day. Thus, businesses that pay to   
   broadcast commercials on Fox News are subsidizing Glenn Beck's   
   television show by continuing to pump money into the network. It has   
   become clear that the only way to stop supporting Beck is to stop   
   supporting Fox News.   
      
   I respectfully request that you bring this matter of your company's   
   sponsorship of hate speech leading to violence to the attention of your   
   fellow directors as soon as possible. I believe no responsible company   
   should advertise on Fox News due to its recent and on-going deplorable   
   conduct.   
      
   While we may agree to disagree about the role our citizens and our   
   government should play in promoting social justice and the common good,   
   there should be no disagreement about what constitutes integrity and   
   professionalism and responsibility in discourse - even when allowing for   
   and encouraging contending diverse opinions intelligently argued. This   
   is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue. No one, left, right or   
   center, wants to see another Oklahoma City.   
      
   The next "assassin" may succeed, and if so, there will be blood on many   
   hands. The choice is yours. Please join my call to do the right thing in   
   this regard and put Fox News at arm's length from your company by   
   halting your advertising with them.   
      
   Sincerely,   
      
   Drummond Pike   
   CEO and Founder, Tides   
      
   http://blog.tides.org/2010/10/15/dear-fox-advertiser/   
      
   This is the real Tides Foundation. Not the wild-ass fantasy from the   
   doper Glenn Beck.   
      
   The Tides Mission   
      
   Our mission is to partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists,   
   and organizations across the country and across the globe to promote   
   economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to   
   live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are   
   preserved and protected.   
      
   --- Xnews/5.04.25   
    * Origin: Fidonet Via Newsreader - http://www.easternstar.info (1:123/789.0)