[Today]

Our guest columnist is Glenn Beck’s flack.

Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, are proud to announce that they will work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News’ digital properties. Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.

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There are some obvious things to say about this story, which is why we won’t bother saying them:

A once-classified FBI memo reveals that the bureau treated a senior ABC News journalist as a potential confidential informant in the 1990s, pumping the reporter to ascertain the source of a sensational but uncorroborated tip that the network had obtained during its early coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The journalist, whose name is not disclosed in the document labeled “secret,” not only cooperated but provided the identity of a confidential source, according to the FBI memo — a possible breach of journalistic ethics if he or she did not have the source’s permission.

Yes, well, there’s getting in bed with your source, and then there’s fucking his brains out, but that’s Journalism 101. If the profession needs anybody to tell them Don’t Do That, the profession has deeper problems than simple unsolicited advice will remedy.

What instead draws our attention is this detail:

The journalist “advised that a source within the Saudi Arabian Intelligence Service advised that the Oklahoma City bombing was sponsored by the Iraqi Special Services who contracted seven (7) former Afghani Freedom Fighters out of Pakistan.”

Our stern J-school prof would dock you a grade for a fact-error like that.

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You remember Liberty University, don’t you? Falwell’s joint? Yeah, that one. So, how are they doing?

Liberty University students received approximately $445 million in federal financial aid money last fiscal year, according to U.S. Department of Education data, making LU the top recipient in Virginia.

The rapid growth of Liberty’s online program has fueled the increased reliance on federal aid dollars, said Robert Ritz, LU’s executive director of financial aid.

Last year, Liberty enrolled about 52,000 online students, plus another 12,000 through its residential programs.

By a nutty coincidence, that $445 million is $25 million more than public broadcasting gets! Small world!

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David Brooks: “Last fall, the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission released a bold report on how to avoid an economic catastrophe.” No, it didn’t. [NYT, Bloomberg]

“The federal government provided part of a $60,000 grant to pay for the creation of a mural detailing Maine’s labor history. But since LePage had the artwork removed from the lobby of an Augusta building last month, a senior Labor Department official is asking for the the mural to be put back on display or the cash to be returned.” [Politico]

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% [Vanity Fair]