Sean Hannity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. If you are prevented from editing this article, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or create an account.
Sean Hannity
Born December 30, 1961 (age 45)
New York City, New York, United States
Occupation Television personality/host, Talk radio host & Author
Spouse Jill Hannity

Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an American conservative talk radio host, an executive producer of Fox News Channel's program Hannity & Colmes, and the author of two books. Hannity is of Irish descent and a practicing Roman Catholic. [1][citation needed]

Contents

Early life

Hannity is the son of Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity, both children of Irish immigrants. His paternal grandparents immigrated from County Down and his maternal grandparents from County Cork. He has two sisters, Joanne S. Hannity and Therese Grisham (Hannity). He grew up in Franklin Square, New York. During the late 1980s Hannity worked in construction in Santa Barbara, California, and also as a bartender.[1] He has lived in Roswell, Georgia; Athens, Alabama; 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, Patrick and Merri.

Education

Hannity attended St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, Long Island, New York, graduating in 1980. He dropped out of New York University and decided to pursue a radio career.[1] He has received an honorary degree from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University (2005).[2][3][4]

Current professional life

Sean Hannity is currently a nationally syndicated radio talk show host broadcasting out of WABC radio studios in New York and co-host of Hannity & Colmes, a Fox News political debate program. He is a spokesman for General Motors, the automobile manufacturer.

Radio

Further information: The Sean Hannity Show

Sean Hannity got his first talk radio show in 1987 at KCSB-FM, the volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara. After airing for 40 hours of airtime,[5] Hannity's weekly show was canceled in 1989, when KCSB management charged him with "discriminating against gays and lesbians" after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio. The station 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.[6]

In 1988, Hannity placed an ad in radio publications presenting himself as "the most talked about college radio host in America," and WVNN in Athens, Alabama (part of the Huntsville market) hired him to be the afternoon talk show host.[5] From Huntsville, he moved to WGST in Atlanta, filling the slot vacated by Neal Boortz, who had moved to competing station WSB. In September of 1996 Roger Ailes, founder of the Fox News Channel, hired the then relatively unknown Hannity to co-host the television program Hannity & Colmes with Alan Colmes.

Hannity's radio program is a conservative political talk show focusing on current issues and politicians. The show is frequently critical of, and has drawn criticism from, the Democratic Party. David Wade, a John Kerry spokesman, said during the 2004 Presidential election regarding the term carpet-bombing, "If the term hasn't found its way into print, its distortions certainly have. From Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to Laura Ingraham to Saxby Chambliss to the R.N.C., you can't turn on a TV or pick up a radio without seeing a systematic and coordinated attack on John Kerry."[7] Hannity also draws praise from conservative politicians: "He has a great personality, and the tone counts for a lot," said Texas Sen. John Cornyn. "He's willing to ask questions and challenge the assumptions that many in the mainstream news media are not."[8]

The Sean Hannity Show began national syndication September 10, 2001 on over 500 stations nationwide. As of spring, 2006, the program is heard by over 12.5 million listeners a week.[9] In 2004, Hannity signed a $25 million 5-year contract extension with ABC Radio to continue the show through 2009.[10] The program was made available via Armed Forces Radio Network in 2006.

Television

Hannity is executive producer of Hannity & Colmes, an American political debate television program on the Fox News Channel featuring conservative Hannity and liberal Alan Colmes as co-hosts. Hannity has had on-air clashes with guests of the program. On August 25, 2006 he had a heated discussion with Laura Costas of Code Pink, an anti-war women's group, on an event Code Pink held in front of Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Hannity called it a protest attacking wounded veterans to make a political statement, Costas said it was vigil for increased compensation for veterans.[11] Hannity also hosts his own Sunday show on Fox News Channel called "Hannity's America".

Freedom Concert

Since 2003 Hannity has hosted the annual Freedom Concert, featuring conservative speakers and guests, at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. In 2006, a second Freedom Concert was added in San Diego. The event provides full college scholarships for children of fallen U.S. military servicemen, and promotes conservatism with speakers and guests such as Ann Coulter, David Limbaugh (brother of Rush Limbaugh), Mark Levin and Rick & Bubba, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, former Congressman Tom DeLay, and TV personality Susan Lucci.[12] In the weeks leading up to the event he provides some callers with tickets to the concert.

Film

In the 2005 documentary film This Divided State, Hannity is shown speaking to the students of Utah Valley State College and members of the surrounding community. He had been invited to speak on campus to balance the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore who had been invited to speak on campus two weeks before the 2004 presidential election. Hannity also appeared as a newscaster in the 1998 thriller The Siege.

Hannidate

Since 2005, Hannity has run a dating service on his website, called "Hannidate," matching conservative or Republican-leaning singles. The stated purpose of Hannidate is to create a "place where people of like conservative minds can come together to meet."[13][14]

Controversy and criticism

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Over the years, some individuals and organizations have been critical of some of Hannity's espoused political beliefs and activities:

  • Media watchdog group Media Matters for America has been consistently critical of remarks Sean Hannity has made on his television and radio shows.[15]
  • Frank Rich, in a New York Times editorial, criticized Hannity and Dick Morris for using the American flag on their book covers, saying they "use the Stars and Stripes as a merchandising tool for their own self-aggrandizingly patriotic screeds cashing in on their TV celebrity."[16]

See also

Books

References

  1. ^ a b Kurtz, Howard. "Radio's New Right-Fielder", Washington Post, January 14, 2002. Retrieved on November 4, 2006.
  2. ^ Inspirational speeches given at 2 college graduations
  3. ^ Sean Hannity Biography
  4. ^ "Conservative voice box Hannity gets more talk time"
  5. ^ a b Sean Hannity's bio
  6. ^ http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1158
  7. ^ Kerry Speaks to New York, Talks Back to Washington.
  8. ^ HARD HITTER: Angry man Hannity a big draw at the Garden. Houston Chronicle. Sept. 2, 2004
  9. ^ TALKERS Magazine: The top talk radio audiences
  10. ^ "Sean Hannity Profile", WSGW 760, 2006. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  11. ^ FOX News story on CODE PINK protests at Walter Reed Medical Center
  12. ^ Freedom Concert 2006 lineup
  13. ^ Hannidate website
  14. ^ Concord Monitor, 12/4/06. "Hannity's other side comes out on web: Fox News host fosters gay male hookups."
  15. ^ Media Matters for America
  16. ^ Had Enough Of the Flag Yet?

External links

Find more information on Sean Hannity by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/e/a/Sean_Hannity_4353.html"
In other languages