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Over two days, Hannity's coverage of Holocaust museum shooting totals just one sentence

June 12, 2009 2:40 pm ET

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SUMMARY: Sean Hannity has devoted a total of one sentence over two editions of his Fox News show to the topic of the June 10 shooting of a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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After having criticized other media for inadequately covering the June 1 shooting at an Army recruiting center in Arkansas, which resulted in the death of Pvt. William Long, Fox News host Sean Hannity has devoted a total of one sentence over two editions of his Fox News show to the June 10 shooting of Stephen T. Johns, a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, allegedly by white supremacist James W. von Brunn. Specifically, during a discussion about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's recent controversial comments, Hannity said, "[L]ook at this racist anti-Semite who -- involved in the shooting," and agreed with his guest's assertion that "we hear a lot about it, and we should."

In contrast to Hannity's general silence on the Johns shooting, during the June 9 edition of his Fox News program, Hannity stated of the Long murder that "[t]here's a little double standard in the way this was treated, both in the media and by the Obama administration, in comparing the killing of this abortion doctor, [George] Tiller." He later added that the Tiller murder "is similar, but it got a lot more coverage. ... Why would that be? Because they're very similar stories if you look at it."

As Think Progress noted, during the June 10 broadcast of his show, Hannity never once mentioned Johns' murder, though he did discuss at length David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin, the firing of Miss California Carrie Prejean, and actor Craig T. Nelson's take on the proper role of government. Similarly, Hannity did not substantively discuss the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting during the June 11 edition of his show; he did host Prejean to comment on her recent dethronement.

From the June 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: "Them Jews won't let Obama talk to me."

NIGER INNIS (national spokesman, Congress of Racial Equality): Well, he's back at it again. You know, Wright has made a mint. He's become a very wealthy man pushing this kind of hate for many, many years. He almost cost Obama the presidency, and now he's undermining his administration. I hope President Obama's advisers are smart enough to tell him not to just stay silent which is what he's been doing, but to take this on.

HANNITY: All right. I want to get into this. First of all, Star, I'll get your reaction to this and then also his so-called clarification. Your thoughts.

STAR PARKER (syndicated columnist): Well, I think it's underappreciated just how entrenched hatred toward Jews are in the -- in some parts of the black community. In fact, radical Muslim influence has been growing in these communities for years through leaders from Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X, others. They have a huge economy in most black communities and black neighborhoods. They've been recruited in our prisons, these young men, for decades.

I don't know how many even know that we today have sitting congressional black caucus members, too, that are Muslims, one from the state of Minnesota, where they've had deep problems with extremism, everything from Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry passengers that have liquor to Muslim grocery store clerks who refuse to let people buy pork.

You know, the challenge that we're faced with Jeremiah Wright is that he is not alone in black America. Of the 45,000 black churches in this country, only about 10 percent would be considered evangelical conservative and look at life through a biblical worldview to protect the interests of Israel. There are about the same amount that would agree with Jeremiah Wright. The rest just sit by silently --

INNIS: Star --

PARKER: -- because they're scared.

INNIS: Star, my dear friend, makes a very important point, and it's a point that we raised back in 2002 with President Bush and the White House and the attorney general, that the danger of Al Qaeda and other extremists making a connection between the nihilism that exists within a lot -- some of these black communities and people of color around the country that Wright talks about that. We made the clarion call; we rang the bell back then. And I'll tell you, with all this hate talk, you know, that we see in the establishment media --

HANNITY: Look at this.

INNIS: -- right? About Tiller and about --

HANNITY: Look at this -- look at this -- look at this racist anti-Semite who -- involved in the shooting.

INNIS: And we hear a lot about it, and we should. It was outrageous and it's a tragedy. But you don't hear about the jihadist radical Muslim convert that Star -- the type of people that Star's talking about, and the environment --

HANNITY: All right, let me ask you this --

INNIS: -- and here's the point. Wright's language, his rhetoric, this nonsense, has been pumped into the black community on -- not just in churches, but on college campuses and a variety of other places.

HANNITY: Let me get this in, because I think this is really important. Because we now find from Newsweek via BET.com that, in fact, that Barack Obama privately and secretly met with Reverend Wright during the campaign. Now I don't know -- can we tie -- first of all, I find that -- was he secretly winking and nodding to him? In other words, does he hold the extremist views of Jer -- see, I think he does.

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    • Author by Max Credits (June 12, 2009 2:46 pm ET)
      12  
      Hannity's past associations with Neo-Nazis make clear why this shooting does not bother him.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by political_left-religious_right (June 12, 2009 2:50 pm ET)
      14  
      Goodness, it looks like Fox News doesn't even get the "We Report" half of their pompous creed correct.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by carlileb5935 (June 12, 2009 5:56 pm ET)
        6  
        Good subject for MMFA: how much time has FOX spent on the recruiter shooting as compared to the Holocaust museum? They've hyped up their coverage, and also spend mucho time showing Rev. Wright making anti-Israel comments.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by LuvLuLu (June 13, 2009 1:02 am ET)
          8  
          Virtually every minute they spent on the recruiter shooting wasn't from their sincere attempt to cover that event either. It was from their insincere attempt to mask their lack of empathatic coverage of the Tiller murder. Dr Tiller was stalked and killed in a church. The recruiter just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Under our laws, the Tiller murder is much more offensive and is a hate crime. Not so with the recruiter's murder.

          Any murder is terrible. Some are worse than others. Some are more newsworthy than others. Some are more regrettable and nation-changing than others. That's reality. And some help the FoxNews crew push their agenda more than others. That's rightwing political philosophy for you, about as anti-reality as one can get.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by magnolialover (June 12, 2009 3:05 pm ET)
      13  
      Prove that Obama holds the extremist views of Wright?

      He doesn't. It's as simple as that Sean. You can know someone, and be friends with someone, and not hold their views, and you can completely disagree with their views.

      Don't you think?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by wzwriter (June 12, 2009 3:44 pm ET)
        9  
        You can know someone, and be friends with someone, and not hold their views, and you can completely disagree with their views.

        Case in point:

        I'm a liberal Democrat who voted for Barack Obama and favors gun control measures that keep guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally ill. One of my closest friends is a right-leaning libertarian who voted for Ron Paul and is opposed to all forms of gun control.

        But we're still the best of friends. Because we respect each other's opinions.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by kfraz43 (June 12, 2009 6:12 pm ET)
             
          Right there with you... there are many who can separate the hateful rhetoric from their actual convictions, and that fact alone makes them interesting to converse with. My hope is that THAT is the conservatism that catches on, not this crap.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by political_left-religious_right (June 12, 2009 3:45 pm ET)
        9  
        Absolutely! I have former pastors that I don't agree with (same with my current pastor, actually). Indeed, I have one former pastor that I will probably never willingly see or talk to again because of what I consider his rank hypocrisy and the damage he did to a once-fine church.

        I am convinced that the only people who think that Rev. Wright is or ever was an issue are the ones who voted against Obama anyway, i.e., he didn't matter, and still doesn't. The man is an embarrassment, but to himself only.

        Only in wingnut-land can we have all of the following simultaneously (all from recent MMFA articles):

        "Obama's a Muslim"

        "Obama talks about Jesus constantly"

        "Obama never attends church"

        "Obama is still tied to Rev. Wright"

        You could get whiplash trying to negotiate all those turns.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by IowaDem (June 13, 2009 11:36 pm ET)
          4  
          It's the product of not having any core principles except hatred. They can't help themselves really because its a pathological, social psychological abnormality. It isn't even about making sense anymore, it's simply about lying, smearing, and inciting hatred in others. For the wealthy elites of the party its all in the name of ratings and votes, which to a Repulican, mean about the same thing, I think. For the rest of their hive-minded followers, its all about blaming their misfortunates (which for most of these folks are legion because they are naturally lazy, unimaginative, and self-centered and think being a white American entitles them to EVERYTHING) on minorities, on "Big Government" (which they hate on day on taxes and then depend on the next to protect them against scary terrorists), and "liberals" (which is now a caricature created by the right that bears little relation to reality).

          If it wasn't so incredibly dangerous and destructive, it would be sad.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by RobertSeattle (June 12, 2009 3:10 pm ET)
      9  
      General Sean Hannity - Leader of the Straw Man Army.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by seeryer (June 12, 2009 3:59 pm ET)
      5  
      Hannity has played this smart. He knows it is hard to make political hay out of this one so he is leaving it alone. Unlike Limbaugh and Beck, Hannity seems to realize that this guy is a right wing extremist. I give him credit for not using this even as an excuse to beat up Obama (NewsMax) or call him a "leftist if anything". I should say Hannity has not stooped that low......YET
      Report Abuse
      • Author by hazelg (June 13, 2009 10:31 am ET)
           
        Hannity has always stooped as low as you can go, whether with this issue or any other issue that suits his right-winged agenda. I believe that he is a sexist, racist commentator and should be taken off the air.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by njguy93 (June 14, 2009 3:41 am ET)
        3  
        Oh, believe me, both Limbaugh and Beck, even O'Reilly, know that this guy was a right-wing extremist. They know full well, they just shamelessly spin and deflect (as usual) in order to somehow absolve themselves of any responsibility. Sad human beings, the whole lot of 'em.

        THANK YOU.
        njguy93@yahoo.com
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Lute (June 12, 2009 5:15 pm ET)
         
      doesn't matter what they choose to cover--what matters is that they do it with honesty and integrity. Rumors, imsinuation, innuendo, "selective editing", they used to call it yellow journalism, but since journalism seems to have little to do with it any longer, yellow might be sufficient.

      I imagine I am not alone in sometime wishing to scream at the tv, journalism dumped in the toilet in favor of pandering for viewers.

      We are ill served, left at sea regarding the truth. This idiotic left right squabble has little to do with journalism, or with its basic function of informing the public.

      Fill up the airwaves, sell whatever needs to be sold, and titillate, outrage, and intrigue; perhaps Mr. Murdoch's competitors are unwilling, still, the realistic position is that the medium will only degrade further as the competition becomes ever more cuthroat, and vicious. A downside to social evolution and its marriage to technology.

      One notes as an aside that more & more of the content consists of attacks upon one another, leaving behind any pretense of news.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by amien (June 12, 2009 5:28 pm ET)
         
      "I don't know how many even know that we today have sitting congressional black caucus members, too, that are Muslims, one from the state of Minnesota, where they've had deep problems with extremism, everything from Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry passengers that have liquor to Muslim grocery store clerks who refuse to let people buy pork."

      I'm sorry, but this statement struck me. How can this be called Muslim extremism? I see this more as an issue of how religious beliefs intersect with professional secular life. It's a bit of a reach, but it looks like a much smaller-scale version of cases when, say, Christians refuse to perform certain legal or medical procedures when they feel it goes against their religious beliefs (such as gay marriage, artificial insemination, etc). I don't see how this is 'extremism' at all.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by right-winger (June 12, 2009 6:45 pm ET)
      7 2
      OH PLEASE ARE YOU SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! THE MEMO WAS SENT OUT TO RIGHT-WINGERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AS SOON AS THAT SHOOTING HAPPEN. THEY DID THE SAME THEY WITH THE ABORTION DOCTOR. THIS IS ONE RESON WHY THIS IS GOING ON WITH PEOPLE LIKE FOX,CNN,AND PAT AT MSNBC AND RIGHT-WING RADIO PUTTING OUT HATE AND FEAR. HEY HAS ANYONE SEEN PAT ON MSNBC SINCE THE SHOOTING? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEY MEDIA MATTERS IT DIDN'T GET HIM FIRED FROM MSNBC BUT A LEAST IT GOT HIM OFF THE SHOW FOR A LITTLE WHILE. TOO BAD IT TOOK THIS SHOOTING FOR MSNBC TO STOP THE HATE THEY WERE LETTING HIM PUT OUT THERE.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by fairliberal (June 14, 2009 12:14 pm ET)
          3
        Funny how no one chastises you for the use of caps, I wonder why? Or your poor grammar.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by solon (June 14, 2009 2:45 pm ET)
          3  
          You are a joke. He has been excoriated for using all caps a few dozen times. The guy has been here a long time. We just gave up and virtually no one responds to him.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 15, 2009 7:49 am ET)
          1  
          Funny how no one chastises you for the use of caps, I wonder why? Or your poor grammar.
          Because it's more fun to chastise you for your poor thinking skills, abysmal logic, and utter lack of knowledge.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by steeve (June 12, 2009 7:30 pm ET)
      6  
      Well, it's a start, but it's not good enough. Unfortunately, there are still other subjects which Hannity spends more than one sentence on.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by njguy93 (June 14, 2009 3:39 am ET)
        3  
        Him spending any sentences or seconds on the air is too much.

        THANK YOU.
        njguy93@yahoo.com
        Report Abuse
    • Author by pam95650 (June 12, 2009 7:56 pm ET)
         
      "In fact, radical Muslim influence has been growing in these communities for years through leaders from Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X, others."

      Replace "radical Muslim" with radical right wing. How about:

      "In fact, radical right-wing influence has been growing in these communities for years through talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and others."
      Report Abuse
    • Author by tjmccool2284 (June 13, 2009 12:24 am ET)
         
      If Sean can't use it for partisan political advantage, he leaves it alone, especially if there's no chance he can lie and confuse the issue.
      For an NYU drop-out with nothing upstairs, he oozes sincerity and empathy. No wonder he's successful.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by organically grown (June 13, 2009 9:11 pm ET)
         
      It's strange to me that they want to tie President Obama to hatred of Jews when two of his closest people are Jews: David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel. There are probably others I can't think of. How on earth could Obama possibly harbor anti-Jewish sentiments no matter what Rev. Wright says? It doesn't make any sense.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by bluenewsjunkie85 (June 14, 2009 2:12 am ET)
         
      I would actually like to commend Hannity for self restraint. I know he is itching to get in on comments that this guy was clearly inspired by the left because the rest of the right wing wackos are doing it, but he is actually staying out of the fray. Now whether that is A. Because he feels like its a classless attack and has little or nothing to add to the discourse or B. Because he's seen the backlash others have gotten is yet to be determined, but whatever the case is, I say let Hannity remain silent on this. We as a nation don't need more right wing morons firing up their "base" and causing an even bigger reaction to this situation.
      Report Abuse

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