It is unclear if Tom Callinan, editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, wanted to see Sean Hannity last week in his planned appearance at a paid Tea Party event in Cincinnati, or if he just wanted to call out Fox News for hypocrisy.

Either way, the editor made no bones about his disdain for Fox's decision to cancel Hannity's planned appearance at a Tea Party event April 15 after Media Matters disclosed that Hannity's appearance had been among the drawing cards for attendees who would pay to be there. I also found plenty of news veterans who questioned the ethics of the event.

In a column posted Monday, Callinan took Fox News to task, noting the network did not cancel similar events in which their hosts or correspondents had appeared.

“So it was OK that Neil Cavuto, Fox News' 4 p.m. host, was in Atlanta for a rally there? And what about Glenn Beck, who attended a tax day rally in Texas last year? Beck, discussing the Tea Party rallies on his April 6 program, suggested that viewers could 'celebrate with Fox News' by either attending a protest or watching it on Fox News, according to the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters,” Callinan wrote. “Come on. It's no secret that Fox's 'Fair and Balanced' news skews to the right side of the balance. We get that. In both cases, local organizers promoted Fox's presence at the rallies. The tipping point in Cincinnati appeared to be that seats beside Hannity's stage were sold for $20 to $100 with proceeds going to the Cincinnati Tea Party.”

Callinan later added: “Is this about integrity? Or just the price of it? The Tea Party tickets were $20. I would imagine there were many of the same devotees who forked over $250 a head for the Giuliani event at Jeff Ruby's downtown steakhouse. We know what Sean Hannity stands for, whatever label you give him. But what does Fox News stand for? Something new? Are there consistent rules here? Or just Cincinnati exceptions?”