Commentary

Sean Hannity, The Entertainer, Needs A New Tagline

Fox News’ Sean Hannity is no journalist; he has said as much. However, he may be a entertainer. Still, he needs a marketing fixer to fully achieve that status.

Apparently, he also needs a big attorney sometimes. Turns out, it's the same one President Trump uses: Michael Cohen.

Hannity says he confers with Cohen over real estate matters. But he did not reveal that relationship on-air. That’s not good. Famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said on “Hannity” on Monday that this is something he should have done.

Surely as a journalist, Hannity knew this. It's called full disclosure. As an entertainer? Maybe not. Fox News just needs to change the name of his show: “Hannity: The Apprentice Entertainer.” That would clear things up.

The show already hints at this. The first segment on “Hannity” is billed specifically as -- wait for it -- the Opening Monologue! So I got it wrong. He’s not exactly an entertainer; he’s a comedian! (Viewers do laugh, I’m told.)

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And lest you forget which network you are watching, just closely read Fox News' marketing tagline: “Real News. Real Honest Opinion.” Previously, it was: “We report. You decide.” We see the direction this network is going.

Some viewers get this; so do other big Fox News anchors. Shepard Smith, one of many real journalists/anchors on Fox News, has noted recently: "Some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining ... We serve different masters,” Smith told Time some weeks ago.

Hannity didn’t feel it necessary to disclose that he sought Cohen’s legal advice about some real-estate matters when interviewing him on his show -- since he didn’t pay him any legal fees. As any lawyer who has chased down fees will explain, not paying a fee doesn't negate the attorney-client relationship.

Yet on his radio show on Tuesday, Hannity said: “I did have attorney-client [emphasis added] conversations, mostly over real estate.” Another key word there: mostly. And real estate. Hmmm. Does that mean homes, apartments, land? Know any New York real-estate developers?

In a 2016 tweet, Hannity wrote: “I'm not a journalist jackass. I'm a talk host.” Now, that’s entertainment!

1 comment about "Sean Hannity, The Entertainer, Needs A New Tagline".
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  1. Rocky Kurland from The Magazine Guys, April 23, 2018 at 2:40 p.m.

    Oh Wayne, come now. 50 years ago you could possibly pass off NBC, CBS and ABC news as somewhat unbiased. The "news" industry has changed and no longer is  news reported as much as talked about and discussed. It has gone from a money loser for a local station to a profit center. Non-bias reporting left years ago. We can throw stones at Sean Hannity and he deserves it some times. But Wolf and Anderson are anything but down the middle with their reporting. I will not even bring up the last 15 years of quality evening news reporting on the "Big 3 networks".
    As you know so well, the networks are in a business to make money by selling ads so they can pay the so called talent big bucks. They all have a slant hoping it is the right one to make attract the largest audiences allowing them to make the most dollars possible. Trust none of them and keep you head on a swivle as lies are coming in from all directions! all for ratings and larger ad rates allowing Sean to buy more realestate next to ther other TV show horses!

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About the Author

Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.