Sean Hannity

Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an American conservative talk radio host, co-host of Fox News Channel's political debate program Hannity & Colmes, and the author of two books.

Overview

Hannity went to high school at St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, Long Island, New York, graduating in 1980. Thereafter, he attended New York University but dropped out to pursue his radio career. He has also claimed several times on his radio show to have had financial difficulties that contributed to his dropping out. Though no longer enrolled as a student or involved with WNYU (New York University's radio station), Hannity placed an ad in radio publications presenting himself as "the most talked about college radio host in America," and WVNN in Huntsville, Alabama hired him to be the morning talk show host. From there, he was hired by WGST in Atlanta to fill the slot vacated by Neal Boortz, who had moved on to competing station WSB. Roger Ailes, founder of the Fox News Channel, took a chance on the relatively unknown Hannity, hiring him to co-host Hannity and Colmes with Alan Colmes.

Related Topics:
Uniondale - Long Island - New York - New York University - WVNN - Huntsville, Alabama - WGST - Atlanta - Neal Boortz - WSB - Roger Ailes - Fox News Channel - Hannity and Colmes - Alan Colmes

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Hannity moved to New York to do Hannity and Colmes and to host a local radio show on WABC. His radio program went nationally syndicated on September 10, 2001. It is aired from WABC in New York and is now heard on well over 400 stations nationwide. His program now boasts the second-largest radio audience in the country, heard by over 13 million listeners a week.

Related Topics:
New York - Hannity and Colmes - WABC - September 10 - 2001 - WABC

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He also hosts the annual Freedom Concert at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. This annual event aims to provide full college scholarships for all children of fallen U.S. military servicemen. In 2004, Sean Hannity signed a 5-year, $25 million contract extension with ABC Radio. Since 2005, Hannity has run a dating service on his website, called "Hannidate", matching conservative-minded singles.

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Hannity, who is of Irish descent (all four of his grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland), belongs to the Roman Catholic church. He is married with two children.

Related Topics:
Ireland - Roman Catholic

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Criticisms

Hannity is known for his fearless and confrontational style with guests on his programs, and his conservative views. His critics accuse him of being rude to guests, serving as a megaphone for Republican talking points, being untruthful, and using indecent tactics to get his points across. His supporters praise his courage to speak up and defend his views with logical argument whether or not they are politically correct. In Hannity and Colmes opposing viewpoints are aired and the Fox Network carrying the show is becoming increasingly popular by conservatives and liberals interested in both sides of political debate. He sometimes does event performances across the United States where he claims he can "cure any person of their liberalism" in one sitting. This is a process he calls "Hannitization," although this is more of a slogan than a specific process; for example, his 2004 American tour was called the "Hannitization of America Tour." For example, the documentary This Divided State shows at least one instance where he has taunted the few liberals in the crowd, and singled out and invited a liberal audience member on stage to be jeered by the mostly conservative audience.

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In 2004, Bill Moyers criticized conservative talk radio by saying, "On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths ? half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. They paraded before us as informed opinion."

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Although Hannity was only one of several talk show hosts mentioned in Moyers's editorial, Sean embraced the criticism and renamed his 2005 tour the Barnstorming Freakshow of Political Pornography.

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Like most political figures, liberal and conservative, Hannity embraces a double standard concerning personal behavior. In early 2005, several conservative speakers were pelted with items such as pies and salad dressing during speaking engagements. Hannity immediately declared these incidents "assault", and called for jail time for those involved. Just weeks later, a man attending a book signing for Jane Fonda spit a mouthful of tobacco juice on the actress and author. Hannity immediately declared this action "heckling", and praised the man who took the action.

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