Tuesday, June 1, 2010

An Open Letter to Fox News Concerning Sean Hannity

As you may have guessed from comments I have published that I am an avid listener of radio talk show Sean Hannity. I rarely ever agree with his opinions, and I am not a fan of his "reporting/entertainment" tactics but I do have an interest in the topics or guests which I will read about later on. However, I have noticed some inconsistencies in what he says which bothered me. What first got my attention was his repeated coverage of Sarah Palin and that how he repeatedly refers to her as "Governor Palin" whether he's talking about one of her recent public appearances or as an upcoming guest on his show. Now I can overlook occasional slips of the tongue on shows recorded live when you may be used to a common title/name for a person and it has recently changed, but his usage is not occasional, and her abandonment of her former position to pursue a career in entertainment is not recent, roughly one year of her quitting anniversary.

An action I took was to e-mail to the only contact information I could find on the Fox News Website (newsmanager@foxnews.com), which I post below as an open letter to Fox News. Perhaps this is just a personal pet peeve of my own, but if any of you readers feel the same than I request you follow suit and fire of your own at the same e-mail or any others at Fox that seem appropriate.

I personally would like to push the use of the title "Celebrity Entertainer" when referencing Palin, since I feel that is the arena she is more fitted for, and seems interested in excelling in, than politics.
Hi,

I am a viewer and listener to your news shows including Sean Hannity; however, lately I have noticed some errors on Hannity's shows that I feel need to be corrected as it hurts the credibility of his show and that of Fox News as a whole (who assume QA responsibility of all their shows).

The errors I am referring to are in how Sean Hannity refers to former governor Sarah Palin when discussing her upcoming appearances on his shows and on her recent public appearances. Sean Hannity always refers to her as "Governor Palin" when in fact she has not held that post for some time and no longer holds any political office. The first few times I heard it I figured it was because she had just recently quit her position, but it is now May 2010, almost a full year afterwards, and Sean Hannity is still referring to her as such.

I feel this is irresponsible, and as it is plainly incorrect really needs to be addressed. If he is incorrectly giving titles to Sarah Palin, than who else is he misrepresenting on his show? When he refers to other guests how can I trust that they are who he says they are? If he calls someone a Doctor or Senator or Lawyer than when I hear them on his show I trust their knowledge on certain subjects, but now I cannot be so sure that these people are without doing my own background check. If I have to do my own research after listening to a show than I obviously cannot trust that show like I once did or the network that allows such blatant disregard for news reporting.

As a concerned viewer and listener I ask that you please address this glaring issue soon or I will be forced to look elsewhere for my news and will be sure to ask my friends and family that they do so as well.

I look forward to hearing a response or seeing the correction in action.

Thank you.

6 comments:

  1. I will be interested to see if you ever get a response...

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  2. As of today (I initially sent the letter on May 19th) I have not received a response.

    I was considering forwarding the initial e-mail to MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, CNBC, etc. with Fox on copy prodding them to investigate the lack of journalistic standards for their "news" shows.

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  3. The best part about Sean Hannity's "integrity" is that he has a high school education. That's it. Also, he makes everything into a black-white issue. There's never a gray area on any issue. I could go on and on about Hannity, but more power to you on the letter.

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  4. @mike
    Ha!
    I have always said Sean Hannity has just slightly more credibility on world topics than Sean Penn (who does not have a HS degree) who also likes to spout on about something he knows nothing about (politics).

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  5. It is interesting that both Glenn Beck and Hannity only have a high school diploma. I don't think that college necessarily makes one intelligent but it helps in the cultivation of knowledge.

    When compared to the other Fox News anchors, one can definitely see why Hannity and Beck are the biggest idiots...

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  6. @Kevin
    Also of interest is that these two are always talking of how the evil, liberal (probably called progressive now) education system squashes individual and conservative thoughts.

    Why would I value their opinion on a topic they know nothing about (university/college education)?

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