Political Thunder: Hannity's America?

I'm glad Media Matters picked up on this. I heard about this last night. I think it's ridiculous. He has his own radio program and half a TV Show. He doesn't need another one. And when is FOX going to give a liberal his/her own show?

Here's the story from my hometown paper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel...

The already hard-working Sean Hannity adds another shift to his schedule this weekend with the launch of "Hannity's America" on the Fox News Channel.

Hannity's new magazine show - airing Sundays at 8 - joins his nightly "Hannity & Colmes" on Fox News, and his radio show, airing on WISN-AM (1130) at 6 weeknights.

"I love what I'm doing," the 45-year-old Hannity tells Inside TV & Radio. "I love radio, I love TV, I think I have the greatest life, I have a passion for what I do every day.

"There are things that I've wanted to do for a long time, aspects or sort of segments you can't do in a debate-oriented show," he says.

Fox has tried out a number of weekend pilots, including something called "Hannity on America." That led to this program, a natural choice since Hannity's already co-host of the No. 2 show in cable news.

He says "Hannity's America" will open with news, and then go to "stories that I think and others think need to be covered and are not being covered."

"Look, anybody that follows the news knows that there's a lot of stories out there that never seem to get the attention they deserve."

His first show will feature a face-to-face with anti-Iraq war activist Cindy Sheehan in his new "Hot Seat" segment.

"What I'm trying to do is sort of avoid the problem of 'answer the question, answer the question,' " he explains.

"We're going to start off the segment with five yes-or-no questions and then, after we finish that, we're going to go more in depth.

"Everybody will know ahead what the rules are."

Another scheduled guest is Elisabeth Hasselbeck of ABC's "The View," who'll talk about the ongoing Donald Trump-Rosie O'Donnell feud, a staple of cable TV "news" shows.

For the record, Hannity says that'll be him live on Sundays, not a mere recorded image.

"I'm coming in Sunday night, which, by the way, is a night that I always worked anyway," he says. "After I went to church and took my kids out to dinner every Sunday, which is part of our family tradition, or Sunday brunch, then by 6 o'clock I'd start winding down, turn on '60 Minutes' and start doing all my prep for the week."

The entire conversation with Hannity is available on the latest podcast edition of Inside TV & Radio - the 50th installment - available at www.jsonline.com/links/cuprisin. You also can subscribe to the podcast for free at the iTunes Store.

LINK: Hannity will try out a new format in 'America'

MM:

On January 7, Fox News will premiere a new weekly show, Hannity's America, starring Sean Hannity, who currently co-hosts the Fox News show Hannity & Colmes along with Alan Colmes. Hannity and others have defended themselves against charges that Fox News leans conservative by pointing to the purported conservative/liberal balance represented by the co-hosts of Hannity & Colmes, but Colmes apparently will not be a co-host of Hannity's America.

According to a January 4 Hollywood Reporter article, Hannity's America will "blend the debate style that Hannity is noted for on TV and syndicated radio," featuring interviews and reports and a "debate component, called 'Hannity's Hot Seat,' [that] will feature a lightning round of five yes or no questions put to a liberal and then a debate." Each show will also reportedly include "the naming of a 'Great American' ... 'people that on a daily basis make this a great country and never get noticed." According to a Fox News advertisement that aired during the January 2 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity's America will air every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET; Hannity will continue to co-host Hannity & Colmes and his daily ABC Radio Networks show.
As Media Matters for America has noted, several people, including Hannity himself, have previously defended Fox News against charges it skews to the right in part by pointing to the pairing of Hannity and Colmes on their show.