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Sean Hannity

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Sean Patrick Hannity
Sean Hannity at King of Prussia Mall (2004)
Born (1961-12-30) December 30, 1961 (age 62)
New York City, USA
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Radio host/television host, political commentator and author
Employer(s)Citadel Broadcasting, Fox News Channel
Known forPolitical commentator
Political partyConservative Party of New York
SpouseJill Rhodes Hannity
Parent(s)Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity
WebsiteHannity.com

Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American radio and television host, author, and Neoconservative political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio program, The Sean Hannity Show, airs throughout the United States on Citadel Media. Hannity also hosts two television shows on Fox News Channel: Hannity, which replaced the political debate program Hannity & Colmes, and the weekend show Hannity's America. Hannity has also written two New York Times bestselling books,[1][2] Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism and Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism.

Early life

Hannity is the son of Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity. Both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland. He has two sisters, Joanne S. Hannity and Therese (Hannity) Grisham. He grew up in Franklin Square, New York.

During the late 1980s, Hannity was a general contractor[3] in Santa Barbara, California and also a bartender.[4] He has lived in Roswell, Georgia; Warren, Rhode Island; Athens, Alabama; Bayport, New York, Lloyd Harbor, New York; and Santa Barbara, California.

He married Jill Rhodes, a columnist for The Huntsville Times, on January 9, 1993. They have two children.

Education

Hannity graduated in 1980 from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school, located in Uniondale, New York. Hannity dropped out of New York University and Adelphi University. He later decided to pursue a radio career.[4]

Professional life

Hannity in a radio and television interview with Vice President of the US Dick Cheney

Hannity hosted his first talk radio show in 1989 at the volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara, KCSB-FM, while working as a general contractor. The show aired for 40 hours of air time;[5] Hannity has since called the show "terrible."[6] Hannity's weekly show on KCSB was canceled after less than a year when management charged him with "discriminating against gays and lesbians." This was after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio; among other remarks, Hannity told a lesbian caller that "I feel sorry for your child".[7] The station later reversed its decision to dismiss Hannity due in part to a campaign conducted by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Hannity decided against returning to KCSB.[8]

After leaving KCSB, Hannity placed an ad in radio publications presenting himself as "the most talked about college radio host in America." Radio station WVNN in Athens, Alabama (part of the Huntsville market) then hired him to be the afternoon talk show host.[5] From Huntsville, he moved to WGST in Atlanta in 1992, filling the slot vacated by Neal Boortz, who had moved to competing station WSB. In September 1996 Fox News co-founder Roger Ailes hired the then relatively unknown Hannity to host a television program under the working title Hannity and LTBD ("liberal to be determined").[9] Alan Colmes was then hired to co-host and the show debuted as Hannity & Colmes.

Later that year Hannity left WGST for New York, where WABC had him substitute for their afternoon drive time host during Christmas week. In January 1997, WABC put Hannity on the air full-time, giving him the late night time slot. WABC then moved Hannity to the same drive time slot he had filled temporarily a little more than a year earlier. Hannity has been on WABC's afternoon time slot since January 1998.[10]

In 2005, Fortune included Hannity in the article "25 People We Envy Most (Lucky Hall of Fame Getting Paid to Mouth Off)".[11]

As the No. 2 radio talk-show host in America, Hannity signed a five-year contract in July 2008 said to be worth "about $100 million."[12]

Conservative Cal Thomas and liberal Bob Beckel, in their book Common Ground, describe Hannity as a leader of the pack among broadcasting political polarizers, which following James Q. Wilson they define as those who have "an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group."[13]

Television

See Hannity & Colmes

Hannity was a co-host of Hannity & Colmes, an American political "point-counterpoint"-style television program on the Fox News Channel featuring Hannity and Alan Colmes as co-hosts. Hannity presents the conservative point of view with Colmes providing the liberal viewpoint. Hannity had on air clashes with show guests such as Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer of Human Life International, who challenged Hannity on his public dissent from the Catholic Church on the issue of contraception.[14][15] Hannity stated that if the Catholic Church were to excommunicate him over the issue, he would join Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church associated with Liberty University, who awarded Hannity his honorary bachelor degree.[16]

In January 2007, Hannity began a new Sunday night television show on Fox News, Hannity's America.

The October 5, 2008 broadcast of Hannity's America entitled "Obama & Friends: The History of Radicalism" interviewed Andy Martin, among others, about Barack Obama, without noting Martin's record of anti-Semitism. The show drew criticism from multiple media outlets. Fox Senior Vice President Bill Shine later stated that having Martin on was a mistake and added that it was a result of inadequate research. [17]

In November 2008, Colmes announced his departure from Hannity & Colmes. After the show's final broadcast on January 9, 2009, Hannity took over the time slot with his own new show, Hannity, which has a format similar to Hannity's America.

Radio

Hannity's radio program is a neoconservative political talk show that features Hannity's opinions and ideology related to current issues and politicians. The Sean Hannity Show began national syndication on September 10, 2001 on over 500 stations nationwide.[18] As of spring 2008, the program is heard by over 13.25 million listeners a week.[19] In 2004, Hannity signed a $25 million five-year contract extension with ABC Radio (now Citadel Media) to continue the show through 2009.[20] The program was made available via Armed Forces Radio Network in 2006.[21] In June 2007, ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Communications.[22]

In January 2007, Clear Channel Communications signed a groupwide three-year extension with Hannity on over 80 stations.[23] The largest stations in the group deal included KTRH Houston, KFYI Phoenix, WPGB Pittsburgh, WKRC Cincinnati, WOOD Grand Rapids, WFLA Tampa, WOAI San Antonio, WLAC Nashville, and WREC Memphis.

The opening theme music for the Sean Hannity Show is "Independence Day" by Martina McBride followed by "O Fortuna" (from Carmina Burana) by Carl Orff, followed by "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range.[24]

Hal Turner controversy

Hannity has criticized and has been criticized by various media outlets [25] for having provided a forum on his late 1990s WABC radio program[26] to self-described neo-Nazi[27] Hal Turner. Phil Boyce, program director at WABC-AM, told The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey that Turner's views were "inappropriate", and that they stopped taking his calls when "basically, the shows didn't feel he was of value anymore." For his part, Turner said that Hannity had become too "timid" and "politically correct".[26]

Books

Hannity is the author of two books, Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Ideas in Politics, Media, and Life and Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism published through ReganBooks. Both books reached the nonfiction New York Times bestseller list. The second book quickly went to number one and stayed there for five consecutive weeks.[28][29] Hannity has stated that he is too busy to read many books,[28] and dictated a lot of his own two books into a tape recorder while driving in to do his radio show.[30]

Awards and honors

Hannity has twice received a Marconi Award as the Network Syndicated Personality of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters. His first award was in 2003, the second in 2007.[31]

In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University awarded Hannity an honorary degree.[32]

Talkers Magazine gave Hannity their Freedom of Speech Award in 2003.[33] The industry magazine also lists Hannity as #2 on their list of the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.[34]

Radio and Records magazine has honored Hannity with the National Talk Show Host of the Year Award for three consecutive years.[35]

Freedom Concerts

Hannity has hosted country music-themed Freedom Concerts since 2003, billed to help benefit the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, a charity created by Oliver North to provide college scholarships to children with a parent severely disabled or killed in military action. Appearing artists have included Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Lee Greenwood, LeAnn Rimes, Montgomery Gentry, Darryl Worley, Charlie Daniels, Larry the Cable Guy, and Michael W. Smith.[36]

The Freedom Concerts were held annually in the Northern Star Arena at the Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey through 2006.[37] In 2007, the annual concert was expanded to a summer series held at five locations across the United States, culminating with the September 11 event in New Jersey marking the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.[38]

Speakers at the September 11, 2007 concert included Oliver North, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani and several conservative talk show hosts from WABC Radio.[39]

Hannidate

Hannity's Internet dating service, "Hannidate", matches conservative or Republican-leaning singles, heterosexual and gay. Begun in 2005, it is described as a "place where people of like conservative minds can come together to meet."[40][41]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ "BEST SELLERS: September 22, 2002". New York Times. 2002-09-22. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  2. ^ "BEST SELLERS: April 4, 2004". New York Times. 2004-04-04. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  3. ^ http://www.talkradio1400.com/page.php?page_id=13874&jock_id=3718
  4. ^ a b Kurtz, Howard (January 14, 2002). "Radio's New Right-Fielder". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
  5. ^ a b "Hannity Bio". The Sean Hannity Show at WDBO. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  6. ^ "'Hannitization' Of America". CBS News. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  7. ^ Cohen, Jeff (2006). Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media. Polipoint Press. pp. M1 85. ISBN 0-9760621-6-X.
  8. ^ Rendall, Steve (November/December 2003). "An Aggressive Conservative vs. a 'Liberal to be Determined'". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Retrieved 2008-10-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20061109203543/http://www.alan.com/staff/alan.htm
  10. ^ Hannity, Sean. "Sean Hannity is a multi-media superstar, spending four hours a day every day reaching out to millions of Americans on radio, television and internet". WABC. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  11. ^ 25 People we envy Most: Lucky Hall of Fame Getting Paid to Mouth Off. Fortune Magazine. October 17, 2005
  12. ^ Sean Hannity Strikes Dual Syndie Deal. "MediaWeek.Com". July 21, 2008,
  13. ^ Thomas, Cal (2007). Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America. New York: William Morrow. pp. 3–6. ISBN 0-06-123634-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "YouTube - Hannity's Gospel". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  15. ^ McCain, Robert Stacy "Hannity at Odds with Catholic Doctrine" Washington Times, March 14, 2007
  16. ^ Royal, Robert. "Sean and Rudy's excellent adventures in moral theology." National Catholic Reporter; March 30, 2007, Vol. 43 Issue 22, p19-19, 2/3p.
  17. ^ Kurtz, Howard. World's Apart: The Great Hannity-Olbermann Divide Washington Post October 27, 2008.
  18. ^ http://affiliates.abcradionetworks.com/press/2006releases/090806.pdf
  19. ^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences". Talkers Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  20. ^ "Sean Hannity Profile". WSGW. 2006. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  21. ^ http://affiliates.abcradionetworks.com/press/2006releases/010306.pdf
  22. ^ "Disney and Citadel Announce Completion of ABC Radio Merger" (Press release). The Walt Disney Company. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  23. ^ "Clear Channel Radio Renews Sean Hannity Through 2010" (Press release). Clear Channel Communications. 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  24. ^ "The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  25. ^ http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal
  26. ^ a b Kladko, Brian (2003-02-23). "A voice filled with hatred, intolerance". The Record. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  27. ^ Huus, Kari (2005-03-10). "Lefkow slayings divide white supremacists". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  28. ^ a b Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2005.
  29. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070807124253/http://affiliates.abcradionetworks.com/abcradio/seanhannitybio.pdf
  30. ^ Poniewozik, James (2002-11-05). "10 Questions for Sean Hannity". Time. Retrieved 2008-10-13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Sean Hannity Wins 2007 Marconi Award" (PDF) (Press release). Citadel Media. 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  32. ^ Pierce, Jared (2007-04-17). "Hannity to speak at Liberty". The Liberty Champion. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  33. ^ "Sean Hannity and Michael Medved Shows Come to News Talk 590 KTIE-AM" (Press release). Business Wire. 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  34. ^ "Heavy Hundred 2008". Talkers Magazine. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  35. ^ "Sean Hannity Re-Signs with FOX News Channel" (Press release). Business Wire. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  36. ^ http://www.smso.net/Sean_Hannity
  37. ^ http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/events/hannity.aspx
  38. ^ "Sean Hannity Presents Freedom Concerts". Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  39. ^ http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2007/09/sean-hannity-freedom-concert-reaction.html
  40. ^ "Hannidate". Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  41. ^ Stein, Joel (2006-12-03). "Hannity's other side comes out on web". Concord Monitor. Retrieved 2008-10-13.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Sean Hannity.

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