At least the latest Glenn Beck cover story wasn’t as bad as that Time Magazine hit piece from last year.

USA Weekend, the magazine supplement that comes with many Sunday newspapers, ran a front-page story on the Fox News dynamo over the weekend.

“Ten Things You Never Thought You’d Hear From Glenn Beck” is a mostly sympathetic portrait of the garrulous talker. Such profiles typically are, but even a soft-focused feature can’t help but reveal the inherent biases in today’s mainstream press.

USA Weekend isn’t an ideologically driven publication, at least not like Time or Newsweek. All you need to know about the aforementioned Time story can be found in its title — “Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?”

Nevertheless, the USA Weekend article still treated Beck, and indirectly his audience, as people of whom you expect the worst. The story’s headline, “Don’t Judge Beck By His Cover,” hints at what’s to come.

Writer Dennis McCafferty front-loads his story with sour quotes from Syracuse University’s pop culture guru, Robert Thompson, who observes;

He’ll take a position solely to push people’s buttons. He’s not interested in nuanced, rationale debate.

Beck is on the radio for three hours a day and one hour on Fox News, and much of that time is spent meticulously detailing his views on politics. He uses a chalkboard on television to break down his arguments, for crying out loud.

Remember, this is a positive take on Beck’s current career.

Next, the author starts describing his time with the talk show host:

Beck surprises you in person as an approachable and fun-to-hang-out-with kinda guy.

Anyone who’s watched Beck on TV or heard his radio show knows humor is an integral part of his act, as is a serious case of self-deprecation. So why wouldn’t he be a blast to meet? But McCafferty is just warming up.

Over the course of a pleasant (really!) conversation with USA Weekend Magazine, Beck … comes across as, well, fairly human – and eager to reveal these 10 things we be you didn’t know about him.

Wow. So one of the most popular broadcasters in media today is “fairly human,” much to the author’s shock. Hard to believe someone who holds conservative values can also be “fairly human.” Good thing the author included the “fairly” modifier.

The USA Weekend article is mostly straightforward, letting Beck promote himself and his ability to befriend — gasp — liberals.

But it’s hard to imagine a liberal talker having to suffer the slings and arrows sent Beck’s way before getting to his softer side.