On the December 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity suggested that President-elect Barack Obama -- the first African-American to be elected president of the United States -- was named Time magazine's Person of the Year because Vice President-elect Joe Biden chose Time Washington bureau chief Jay Carney as his communications director. Hannity stated: “Shocker: The president-elect is crowned Time magazine's Person of the Year; this after Time magazine's D.C. bureau chief accepts a job in the Obama White House. Ah, I'm sure it's a coincidence.” During a subsequent discussion, Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers said to Hannity, “There's no connection between Jay Carney -- I mean, you don't think he would have been the Man of the Year anyway?” Hannity responded that he's “not really surprised” by Time's honoring Obama, but was instead “surprised” at Time managing editor Rick Stengel reportedly saying that Obama is the “quintessential” Person of the Year. Hannity later said, "[T]he Obama story is a pretty amazing story. No one -- no one is denying that," and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell stated: “I think Time magazine can defend naming him the Man of the Year. They normally name the winner of a presidential election campaign the Man of the Year.”

On December 17, Media Matters for America named Hannity the Misinformer of the Year for promoting and embellishing a vast array of false and misleading claims about Obama and attacking members of Obama's family, as well as Sen. Hillary Clinton and other progressives. In return, Hannity announced during the December 17 broadcast of his radio show that Media Matters was the "winner" of “our first-ever Left-Wing Obamamania Media Propaganda Sleaze Award.” He added: “Now, this award goes to the group or the person that does more lying and smearing than your average left-wing Obamamania media supporter.”

From the December 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: Tonight on Hannity & Colmes:

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D-IL) [video clip]: I can't wait to begin to tell my side of the story and to address you guys and most importantly the people of Illinois.

HANNITY: Blagojevich makes his case to the state legislature, but will evidence from a high-profile mole force him out of office?

OBAMA [video clip]: What are people looking for for Christmas this year?

HANNITY: Shocker: The president-elect is crowned Time magazine's Person of the Year; this after Time magazine's D.C. bureau chief accepts a job in the Obama White House. Ah, I'm sure it's a coincidence.

GOV. MARK SANFORD (R-SC): Let me just, as a backdrop --

HANNITY: All of that, plus South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford tells the Fed to keep its bailout cash. Questions loom in the case against Blagojevich, and more breaking developments in the Caylee Anthony disappearance. Hey, there's only one place to see it all. Hannity & Colmes starts right here, right now.

[...]

HANNITY: So as 2008 comes to a close, Time magazine picks its Person of the Year, and to no one's surprise, Time has chosen President-elect Barack Obama to grace the cover. Now, this honor comes as the magazine's Washington bureau chief, Jay Carney, leaves his post to become Joe Biden's director of communication. Joining us now with reaction, president of the Media Research Center, Brent Bozell; Fox News political analyst Kirsten Powers.

Kirsten, he is the quintessential person for this award. This is what this award was made for, Time is saying. And what a shock that somebody from Time magazine, their bureau chief, would go and work for Joe Biden. I am shocked at the -- you know --

POWERS: But you're not really saying that that's why he's the Man of the Year. There's no connection between Jay Carney -- I mean, you don't think he would have been the Man of the Year anyway?

HANNITY: I'm not really surprised about that --

POWERS: Have you been paying attention?

HANNITY: I'll tell you what I'm surprised at: The comments by -- I guess it was the editor who made the comments, that this award was quintessentially made for him. You know what? There have been a lot of great people over the years. I know this burst of Obama, of the “Yes, we can” chanting, Obama mania media --

POWERS: Yeah. But don't --

HANNITY: -- but there are other good leaders in the world besides a man who's done nothing so far.

POWERS: Yes. Yes. Well, there are other great leaders in the world, but I think that -- I think whenever they do this award, they tend to be a little overly flowery in the language and how they talk about people if they're being positive. And I don't think it's something --

HANNITY: You don't think when they picked Gorbachev over Reagan, that one --

POWERS: I don't think it's specific --

HANNITY: -- when Reagan ended the Cold War, not Gorbachev?

POWERS: -- I don't think it's specific to Obama. But look, I'm sorry, I think it is -- I think Obama has done an amazing thing here. His campaign was amazing. The election was amazing --

HANNITY: I read your column. He's doing an amazing job handling the Blagojevich matter.

POWERS: -- and they have -- they're having a little problem right now.

HANNITY: A little problem there now.

POWERS: But I think, you know, overall, it is a no-brainer that he is the Man of the Year.

HANNITY: All right. Brent Bozell, look, I don't -- the Obama story is a pretty amazing story. No one -- no one is denying that. I think the real story could have been if I was doing -- maybe the death of journalism in 2008, how they didn't -- it was not the proper scrutiny, I think, leading into the election. Not a sore loser, but just a fact. But are you surprised at the glowing coverage that he still continues to get?

BOZELL: Oh yeah. I mean, it's going to continue. Look, I think Time magazine can defend naming him the Man of the Year. They normally name the winner of a presidential election campaign the Man of the Year. That's not the issue. What is the issue is what's inside the magazine, the way they wrote this story. Sean, it's an embarrassment. If you go to the Obama-for-president camp, to his site, you won't see the kind of language that Time magazine puts in a news story.