Hugh Hewitt

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Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host, author and blogger. He comments on politics and society from a neo-conservative and evangelical Christian viewpoint, and frequently expresses his opinions on Media bias in the United States.

Hewitt is also a law professor at Chapman University School of Law, and Executive Editor of Townhall.com. He is a native of Warren, Ohio.


Contents

[edit] Biography

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Hewitt attended John F. Kennedy Catholic High School[1] in Warren, Ohio, and, following that, Harvard University and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Government in 1978. After leaving Harvard, he worked as a ghostwriter for Richard Nixon in California and New York, before going to law school at the University of Michigan Law School, where he was Order of the Coif. Hewitt received his J.D. degree in 1983, then moved to Washington D.C. to clerk for Judges Roger Robb and George MacKinnon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983–1984.

Hewitt worked in the Reagan administration [2] in the late 1980's.

He returned to California in 1989 to oversee construction of the Richard M. Nixon Library as the Library's executive director from groundbreaking through dedication and opening. In 1990, Hewitt sparked controversy by proposing screening of researchers wishing to use the library resources — e.g., Hewitt suggested refusing admission to researchers deemed "unfriendly," — specifically Bob Woodward — because he was "not a responsible journalist." In reaction to protests, John Taylor, a spokesman for Nixon, overturned Hewitt's decision after two days, but it became the subject of editorial rebuke in the New York Times anyway.[3]

When he left the library to practice law, Hewitt began a weekend radio talk show for the Los Angeles radio station KFI, where he broadcast from late 1990 to 1995. In the spring of 1992 he began co-hosting L.A. PBS member station KCET's nightly news and public affairs program, Life & Times, and remained with the program until the fall of 2001, when he began broadcasting his own radio show in the afternoons. Hewitt received three Emmys for his work on Life & Times on KCET, and also conceived and hosted the 1996 PBS series, Searching for God in America.

Hewitt became Executive Editor of TownHall.com in 2006, when Salem Communications purchased it and re-engineered it from a web magazine into a conservative new-media and activism forum. As well as blogging there, he writes a weekly column. He previously was a weekly columnist for the Daily Standard (the online edition of The Weekly Standard) and World. He also occasionally appears as a political/social commentator on programs such as The Dennis Miller Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Larry King Live, The O'Reilly Factor and The Today Show. On 24 April 2006, Hewitt appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report.

Hewitt has been criticized by Andrew Sullivan, who calls him a "Christianist".[4] When Sullivan appeared on Hewitt's radio show to promote his book, The Conservative Soul, a lively exchange resulted, during which Hewitt criticized Sullivan's book as "intellectually[,] a mess".[5]

Hewitt also became a Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law during that time. He currently teaches constitutional law[6] and resides in Irvine, California.[7]

[edit] "The Hugh Hewitt Show"

Hewitt's nationally syndicated radio show, The Hugh Hewitt Show, is broadcast from Irvine. The show can be heard on 112 stations on weekdays and is syndicated by the Salem Radio Network.

Although Hewitt's background is in law, government, and politics, he also covers American cultural trends and frequently delves into the entertainment industry, offering movie reviews with "Emmett of the Unblinking Eye" every Friday evening. He frequently critiques the mainstream media on air, often inviting journalists to defend their work on the show. Interviews with Mark Halperin of ABC news and British historian Andrew Roberts lasted the entire three hour duration of the show.

His regular contributors include law professors John Eastman Dean of Chapman University School of Law and Erwin Chemerinsky of Duke Law School (whom Hewitt calls "The Smart Guys"), James Lileks, Mark Steyn, Christopher Hitchens, and Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), as well as frequent callers from around the country.

[edit] New media

Hewitt is a long-time proponent and promoter of what he, among an assortment of other conservative pundits, calls the new media — talk radio and blogs — as a means to balance what many conservatives call "liberal bias" in the mainstream media. His own blog was described as one of the five "best-read national conservative bloggers" in a 2007 memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.[8]

In early 2006, he wrote an article for the Weekly Standard titled "The Media's Ancien Régime", in which he outlined his belief that the idea of traditional journalism was being eroded by the ease of information facilitated by the Internet.[9]

There is [now] too much expertise, all of it almost instantly available now, for the traditional idea of journalism to last much longer. In the past, almost every bit of information was difficult and expensive to acquire and was therefore mediated by journalists whom readers and viewers were usually in no position to second-guess. Authority has drained from journalism for a reason. Too many of its practitioners have been easily exposed as poseurs.

A recurring theme on Hewitt's show is accusing the mainstream media of liberal bias and lack of transparency, and the unwillingness of its members to answer questions about their own political beliefs. Hewitt has said that the modern paradigm of reportage, whereby journalists make a claim to objectivity while never answering questions about their own beliefs, allows a deep-seated culture of liberal media bias to be perpetuated. He is fond of saying that financial reporters are never allowed to write about companies in which they have an interest, while political reporters routinely refuse to answer questions that might reveal their own political positions and thus allow the reader to adjust for any bias, whether conscious or subconscious, that their reporting might contain.[2]

Hewitt will frequently invite members of the mainstream media on to his show and quiz them about their own political beliefs and why they think those beliefs should remain a secret. Eric Black of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Helen Thomas of the White House Press Corps and Mark Halperin of ABC News, among others, have appeared on Hewitt's show and debated with him the question of whether they should be obliged to disclose their political beliefs. For example, during a 2006 exchange with Hewitt, long-time Washington Post reporter and columnist Thomas Edsall gave his opinion that Democrats outnumbered Republicans 15-25 to 1 among members of the mainstream media.[10]

Since writing the book A Mormon in the White House?, Hewitt's commentary on his radio program and blog in support of Republican candidate Mitt Romney has led to the observation that he "finds himself under suspicion of being a cheerleader for the Romney campaign."[11] Hewitt has donated $2,300 for the Mitt Romney Presidential campaign in 2008.[7] In the leadup to the Feb. 5, 2008, republican primaries, Hewitt became known for the slogan "A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain."[12]

[edit] Books

  • A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney (2007, ISBN 1-59698-502-X)
  • A Guide to Christian Ambition: Using Career, Politics, and Culture to Influence the World (2006, ISBN 0-7852-8871-6)
  • Painting the Map Red: The Fight to Create a Permanent Republican Majority (2006, ISBN 0-89526-002-6)
  • Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World (2005, ISBN 0-7852-8804-X)
  • If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It (2004, ISBN 0-7852-6319-5)
  • In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition (2003, ISBN 0-7852-6395-0)
  • The Embarrassed Believer (1998, ISBN 0-8499-1419-1)
  • Searching for God in America: The Companion Volume to the Acclaimed TV Series (1996, ISBN 0-7881-9914-5)
  • First Principles: A Primer of Ideas for the College-Bound Student (1987, ISBN 0-89526-793-4)

[edit] References

  1. ^ History and Mission
  2. ^ a b Nicholas Lemann. "Right Hook", The New Yorker, August 29, 2005, p. 34. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.  (Scanned copy)
  3. ^ Michael Schudson (1992). Watergate in American Memory: How We Remember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past. Basic Books. ISBN 0465090834. 
  4. ^ Hugh Hewitt (August 5, 2006). Sullivan Fatigue. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
  5. ^ Transcript of Hugh Hewitt Show: Andrew Sullivan on The Conservative Soul (October 25, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
  6. ^ Hugh Hewitt. Chapman University School of Law: Law Faculty. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  7. ^ a b Fundrace 2008. Huffington Post. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
  8. ^ GOP issues rules to avoid Macaca moments - Politico.com
  9. ^ The Media's Ancien Régime
  10. ^ http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=2a63c078-2e33-46d8-b85a-a91a5257fca2
  11. ^ Robert Stacy McCain. "Romney speech sparks flame war?", Fishwrap, The Washington Times, 2007-12-09. 
  12. ^ "The Blogometer 2/4: : The Day Before The Storm", The Hotline, National Journal, Feb. 4, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 

[edit] External links