Is Glenn Beck an idea thief?

The conservative website The Daily Caller is accusing Glenn Beck of lifting ideas from dozens of right-wing bloggers, in a lengthy takedown with specific examples of articles, videos, and other content Beck used on-air without attribution. Beck's own news site, The Blaze, defended Beck, pointing out that the Fox News host and radio star is quite generous in promoting bloggers. But the bloggers aren't sold. "If you rob a bank once, you still robbed a bank," says Pajamas Media CEO Roger Simon. Is Beck really guilty of stealing others' ideas?

This is about payback, not attribution: The Daily Caller is right that "using material found on the internet without proper attribution" is "detestable," says Alex Pareene at Salon. "But it's so widespread — Sean Hannity does it, [Bill] O'Reilly does it, MSNBC does it" — that there must be "some other reason to go after Beck alone." Could it be because The Blaze did a "fair and devastating" takedown of James O'Keefe's shoddy, Daily Caller–promoted video gotcha of NPR? I smell a "grudge."

"Daily Caller, Andrew Breitbart go after Glenn Beck for idea theft"

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No, Beck is a big thief: As a longtime conservative blogger, I've learned to expect that "my content is going to get stolen by journalists, columnists, radio hosts, and television pundits," says Jimmie Bise Jr. at The Sundries Shack. But Beck is "one of the worst offenders," and as one of the conservative media's "big dogs," he can be. It's good to see The Daily Caller call him out, but it won't change the "Law of the Jungle": The big dogs "get all the bones and the rest of us fight for the scraps."

"On content theft and the big dogs"

This is just another wild conspiracy theory: Maybe Beck is just "embarrassed he gets all his information from discredited, unstable internet" sources, says Jack Stuef at Wonkette. But really, does anyone believe that Beck is "plotting against his tribe of crazies, using them for his own mysterious self-interest"? There's a word for that. Hint: "It starts with letter 'c.' And it ends in 'onspiracy.'"

"Crazy people upset Glenn Beck keeps stealing their 'research' uncredited"