Sean Hannity Support For Rudy Giuliani, Dan Rather

IMPROPER SUPPORT?

Media Raises Questions About Sean Hannity's Rudy Backing







For ethical purposes, is a talk show host compelled to remain neutral during hotly- contested presidential primaries, just as we would expect from a television news anchor?

That's the assertion being made in today's New York Daily News, as FOX News commentator Sean Hannity's support for Rudy Giuliani is compared to Dan Rather's past political transgressions. Is that reasonable?

In the story, Hannity's presence at a recent Rudy fundraiser is seen as an in-kind contribution by FOX News toward the former New York City mayor:

It's no secret that Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News commentator, has helped to raise Rudy Giuliani's profile - but now he's helped the former mayor raise money, too.

In a little noticed event this month, Hannity - co-host of Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" and host of a popular WABC radio show - introduced the Republican front-runner at a closed-door, $250-per-head fund-raiser Aug. 9 in Cincinnati, campaign officials acknowledge.

In so doing, some believe that Hannity - while clearly a commentator paid to express his opinions - crossed the line from punditry into financial rainmaking for a presidential candidate whose bottom line is now better for it.

"Fox's in-kind contribution to Republican politicians in the form of softball coverage is one thing," said Steve Rendall, senior analyst at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a left-leaning media watchdog group. "But this is the first time they have crossed this line into fund-raising."

More independent observers said Hannity's appearance underscored the blurring lines between news and advocacy and could be interpreted as a kind of endorsement.

"It signals within that brand of conservatism that they ought to vote for the guy," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communications.

Hannity declined to comment, but his bosses at Fox News Channel and WABC, flagship station for his national radio show, defended their marquee star by arguing that he's not a journalist and shouldn't be judged as one.

"Sean is not a journalist - Sean is a conservative commentator," said Bill Shine, Fox's senior vice president of programming. "Sean doesn't hide, and never has hidden, his beliefs from anyone."

Hannity isn't the first news figure to cross the line into fund-raising. James Carville, a Democratic consultant and CNN personality, has stumped for Democratic candidates in recent years.

And then-CBS anchor Dan Rather caused howls of protest when he attended a Democratic Party fund-raiser in Texas in 2001 organized by his daughter.

Rather - whose transgression was in many ways worse, since news anchors are expected to betray no bias in covering the news - immediately apologized.

But the dustup led to a public debate during which one Fox News colleague of Hannity's, commentator Bill O'Reilly, made it clear that he saw an ethical problem in attending political fund-raisers.

"Now Rather gave a speech at a fund-raiser, so money changed hands. I mean, I wouldn't do that," O'Reilly said on his own Fox show, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Hannity's leanings for Giuliani have been well-documented. The Hotline, a political journal, has noted that through July 15, Giuliani had enjoyed 115 minutes of free face time on Fox - more than half of that on "Hannity & Colmes." His airtime on Fox was 25% higher than any other Republican candidate, data show.

Can we count the number of ways this story is off the mark? First, Rather was a news anchor, while Hannity is paid to give opinions. While the piece admits that fact toward the bottom, why isn't this seen as a major distinction to the "experts" who were interviewed?

Second, Hannity's support for Rudy on his own time no more represents an official stance by FOX than Rather's appearances did for CBS. As a result, it's foolish to suggest that networks are providing an in-kind contribution.

Next, conservatives know how to think for themselves and aren't waiting for a "signal" from Sean before they decide which one to support. It's not like Oprah's book club.


On a practical level, however, there's a good reason why most hosts remain neutral: it can alienate listeners and viewers, who may already have strong feelings about other candidates. That's a good reason to stay out of the nomination fray and wait for the general election.

By choosing to support Rudy, Sean is risking potential anger from segments of his audience, but that's his call to make. He certainly hasn't crossed any ethical boundaries, however.


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