Roundup: How the News Media Covered 'Man in the Moon

Here's a roundup of how local media covered Glenn Beck's epic weekend-long event "Man in the Moon," a "sold-out hit" and "history fest."

Photo credit: Jonathon M. Seidl/TheBlaze

• Deseret News: "Glenn Beck's big Utah weekend a sold-out hit for fans"

"We're here for Glenn Beck."

Pam Fugate answered like many attending Friday night's rally by the conservative FreedomWorks group. She added "liberty" and "freedom" to the list.

"We're happy to see people who want a small government, like we do," she said.

The Fugates trekked to Utah from their home in Anaheim, Calif., for Beck's big weekend, which was packed with charity events, the Independence Through History Museum, a political rally celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit, and culminating in Beck's original show "Man in the Moon" on Saturday night.

Every event with Beck's name on it sold out far in advance.

"As soon as they put the tickets up for sale, they sold out," Steve Fugate said, gesturing across the busy USANA Amphitheater from his spot high up on the lawn. "We ended up in the grass. We should have gone that much quicker."

• The Salt Lake Tribune: "Glenn Beck ponders mankind’s plight from orbit"

Glenn Beck gazed upon humanity from some 238,857 miles away — witnessed darkness and light, despair and hope — and concluded that the fate of mankind rests in its own hands.

[...]

Beck took the stage wearing a black tuxedo and told the crowd of roughly 18,000, many of whom were wearing garbage bag ponchos against the rain, "If we don’t know where we came from, we’ll never know where we’re going."

He stressed that the night was about history and culture.

But he said of the story he was about to tell: "I warn you, you are really, really not going to like how it ends."

• KUTV-TV: "History Fest At Glenn Beck Museum"

[A] portable museum, assembled by none other than Glenn Beck---with rare, wonderful, and notorious finds of private collectors.[...]

At one point, Moon removed a brick of tea he said was from the stash---much of it tossed into the water---at the Boston Tea Party.

It had little bearing to Lipton or Earl Grey.  Instead, the tea was hard and heavy, and Moon explained pre-revolutionaries would break off chunks to dip into hot water.

"Smell it," he said.  "You can still smell it."

Another display contained a pocket watch that belonged to Joseph Smith, and two of his Bibles.  One was opened to pages with a hand-written family history.  Another, a signed miniature version, was said to be his pocket Bible.

• KSL-TV: "Temporary museum features rare historical items"

Utahns have a chance this weekend to see hundreds of rare, historic artifacts including President Lincoln's desk, and letters from America's founding fathers.

The temporary museum serves as a stunning visual history lesson from the time of the French Revolution to our nation's early beginnings. The collection at the Grand America came together as part of a three-day event, Man in the Moon, organized by radio personality Glenn Beck.

"A few of the very unique items that we have here are Marie Antoinette's prayer book and Napoleon (Bonaparte)'s prayer book, it was actually bound for Napoleon and his wife, Josephine," said collector Reid Moon.

One item on display is Arnold Friberg's "Prayer at Valley Forge." It's rarely displayed in public, and, Moon said, it has been over a decade since it was shown.