Glenn Beck is the most famous—and infamous—Mormon in America, better known than President Monson or Steve Young and more popular than Harry Reid or Mitt Romney. His daily radio program has 6.5 million listeners his Fox television program has 3 million viewers and his website, glennbeck.com, reaches more than one million monthly visitors. to the general populous and among Mormons, Beck is a controversial figure, with some Mormons seeing him as a paragon of their religious values and others seeing him as the antithesis of those same values. This paper looks at the Beck phenomenon in light of his place in American media and politics, his representation of Mormon principles and values, and his impact on the Church itself.

Robert A. Rees