No heads roll at Fox News over Sean Hannity tea party incident

After Fox News’ last-minute recall of Sean Hannity from a tea party event in Cincinnati last week, the network vowed to do a thorough post-mortem to determine how the host ended up being listed as the headliner of a political rally that participants were being charged to attend. But now the embarrassing incident appears to have been quietly put to bed without any action. As New York Magazine first reported Thursday, executives have not assessed who should be held responsible for Hannity’s top billing at the Tax Day event at the University of Cincinnati. While there have been post-mortem discussions about the incident, it does not appear that they have resulted in any serious disciplinary measures taken against any staffers involved.

The lack of action is surprising, given the uncharacteristically public critique of the situation Fox News executives made at the time. After learning from “Hannity” executive producer John Finley that people attending the rally were being charged to attend -- with the seats near the stage where Hannity was to tape his show going for an extra premium -- top network officials recalled the host to New York and made it clear that they were furious.

“Fox News never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity’s television program to profit from broadcasting his show from the event,” Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president of programming, said at the time.

On Friday, a network spokeswoman would only reiterate a statement given to New York Magazine, which said: “We’re not going to discuss internal matters any further.”

-- Matea Gold (Follow me on Twitter @MateaGold)

Photo: Sean Hannity broadcasting from WKRC in Cincinnati. Credit: Hannity.com

Fox News yanks Sean Hannity from Cincinnati Tea Party rally he was set to star in

 

Angry Fox News executives ordered host Sean Hannity to abandon plans to broadcast his nightly show as part of a Tea Party rally in Cincinnati on Thursday after top executives learned that he was set to headline the event, proceeds from which would benefit the local Tea Party organization.

Rally organizers had listed Hannity, who is on a book tour, as the headliner of the four-hour Tax Day event at the University of Cincinnati. The rally, expected to draw as many as 13,000 people, was set feature speakers such as “Liberal Facism” author Jonah Goldberg and local Tea Party leaders. Participants were being charged a minimum of $5, with seats near Hannity’s set going for $20, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which reported that any profits would go to future Tea Party events. Media Matters for America noted that Hannity’s personal website directed supporters to a link to buy tickets for the Cincinnati rally.

But senior Fox News executives said they were not aware Hannity was being billed as the centerpiece of the event or that Tea Party organizers were charging for admission to Hannity’s show as part of the rally. They first learned of it Thursday morning from John Finley, Hannity's executive producer, who was in Cincinnati to produce Hannity's show.

Furious, top officials recalled Hannity back to New York to do his show in his regular studio. The network plans to do an extensive post-mortem about the incident with Finley and Hannity's staff.

“Fox News never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity’s television program to profit from broadcasting his show from the event," said Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president of programming. "When senior executives in New York were made aware of this, we changed our plans for tonight’s show.”

Critics of Fox News have accused the network of promoting the Tea Party even as it covers the political movement as a news story. A spokeswoman for the network said that Neil Cavuto was the only host other than Hannity at a Tea Party event Thursday, stressing that Cavuto was covering the Atlanta event for both Fox News and Fox Business Channel, not attending as a participant. Carl Cameron provided news coverage of the Tea Party events around the country out of Washington.

-- Matea Gold (Follow me on Twitter.)

Photo credit: Associated Press

Petition drive calls for Discovery Communications to drop Sarah Palin show

A phone company that donates to left-leaning nonprofit groups has launched a petition drive calling for Discovery Communications to cancel a show featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, citing her stances on the environment.

Last month, Palin signed a deal with Discovery’s TLC channel to star in an eight-part series about Alaska that is expected to premiere later this year.

Working Assets, a company that donates to groups such as Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, published the petition on its CREDO Action website, saying Palin’s upcoming show provides her with “the opportunity to greenwash her environmental record on a mainstream, eco-friendly channel.”
 
The petition states:

The media conglomerate Discovery Communications used to be known for their earth-friendly offerings. But they’ve just paid millions to Sarah Palin to host a “nature” show, despite her decidedly anti-environmental stance: She vocally advocates for habitat-destroying oil drilling, she denies global warming is a human-caused threat, and she spearheaded a brutal wolf-slaughter program as governor of Alaska.

It’s one thing if Fox News gives Sarah Palin a platform. But when Discovery Communications – home to the Discovery Channel, the "Planet Earth" series, the Science Channel, Animal Planet, and TreeHugger.com – gives a show to Sarah Palin, it undercuts everything the Discovery brand has come to represent.

The campaign was inspired in part by a similar effort by a wildlife organization that tangled with Palin over her policies as governor. That organization has launched its own petition drive to get her show dropped. Almost 200,000 people have signed the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund petition, according to its website. Working Assets sent out its petition to members this week and has so far gathered about 20,000 signatures, according to a staffer working on the project.

A spokeswoman for TLC had no comment. In the announcement about the show, which is tentatively titled “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” the former governor said she looked forward to bringing “the wonder and majesty of Alaska to all Americans.”

-- Matea Gold (Follow me on Twitter.)

Photo: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appears at the Tea Party Express' "Showdown in Searchlight" rally March 27 in Searchlight, Nev. Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Tina Fey plans to take on Sarah Palin again when she returns to 'SNL' Saturday

When Tina Fey returns to “Saturday Night Live” to guest host on April 10, she’ll apparently be reviving one of her most popular impressions. Fey told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that she expects to portray former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in another sketch.

“I’m sure we’ll be trying to write something about her,” Fey said during an interview to promote her new movie, “Date Night.”

A spokeswoman for “SNL” said she could not confirm which sketches were in the works, noting that it was a live program subject to change.

Fey’s devastating take on the onetime GOP vice presidential nominee was one of the standout memes of the 2008 presidential contest, culminating with a guest appearance on “SNL” by Palin herself.

The writer and actress said she’s been too busy working on “30 Rock” to pay much attention to Palin in recent weeks, but the former Alaska governor has offered her fans and critics plenty of fodder. She joined former running mate John McCain on the campaign trail, debuted a new show on Fox News and signed a deal to star in a docu-series about Alaska that will air on TLC.

-- Matea Gold

Video: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in a September 2008 episode of "Saturday Night Live." Credit: NBC via Hulu

Sarah Palin's 'Real American Stories' on Fox News draws 2 million viewers

Sarah Palin’s new Fox News series debuted Thursday evening amid substantial chatter, but in the end “Real American Stories” delivered about the same number of viewers that usually tune in to the network at that hour.

The show, in which Palin interviewed people about their inspirational stories of heroism and determination, averaged 2.073 million viewers at 7 p.m. PDT, down slightly from the average of 2.117 million who watched “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” at that hour in the first quarter of this year. There was a significant drop among younger viewers, however: In the key 25-to-54-year-old advertising demographic, “Real American Stories” pulled in 472,000 viewers, down 16% compared with the first quarter.

Palin still got more viewers than all her competitors combined. CNN’s Anderson Cooper had 820,000 viewers at the same hour, while MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann had 575,000 and HLN’s Nancy Grace drew 400,000.

It remains to be seen whether the response to the program was strong enough for the network to green-light further episodes. Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president for programming, said Thursday that he will make a decision about the show’s future next week after getting the ratings for the rerun of “Real American Stories,” which airs Sunday at 6 p.m. PDT.

-- Matea Gold

Toby Keith didn't know his interview would air on Sarah Palin show, either, his rep says

Sarah Palin’s new show on Fox News is still a day away from premiering, but it’s already making headlines. First, rapper LL Cool J accused the network of misleadingly repurposing a 2-year-old interview he did with the network and including it in the program, called “Real American Stories.” And now a representative for country music star Toby Keith said he didn’t know he was going to be part of the program.

Earlier this week, Fox News billed Keith as one of the prominent figures, including LL Cool J and former General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch, who would be featured in the premiere episode Thursday evening.

But Elaine Schock, a spokeswoman for Keith, said the interview was conducted in early 2009 and that he was unaware that it was going to run on a show hosted by Palin. “I don’t have a problem that it’s airing,” she said, noting that Fox has a right to use the footage. “I’m concerned they didn’t call me. We would have liked to have known.”

Fox News said a producer e-mailed Schock on Monday to alert her to the segment. (The Times has seen a copy of the e-mail.) Schock said she never received it.

The interview with Keith focused on his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” and his USO tour and “had nothing to do with Sarah Palin,” Schock said. On the show, Palin narrates the segment, according to the blog Mediaite, which obtained an early look at the episode.

-- Matea Gold

Fox News cuts LL Cool J from Sarah Palin's new show after he says he didn't agree to participate [updated]

The announcement by Fox News on Tuesday that LL Cool J would be featured in the debut episode of a new show hosted by Sarah Palin provoked surprise among many – including, apparently, the rapper himself, who wrote on his Twitter account late Tuesday that he had not participated in the show.

“Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palins Show,” he tweeted. “WOW.”

Fox News said the program, “Real American Stories,” included an interview the performer gave to the network as part of an online project of the same name that launched during the 2008 election. But producers are now excising his interview from the show after LL Cool J, whose real name is James Todd Smith, raised objections.

"'Real American Stories' features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith’s interview fit that criteria," said a spokeswoman for the network. "However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career."

[Updated at 9:24 a.m.: LL Cool J did not immediately respond to requests for comment made through his Twitter account or his manager. On Wednesday morning, while the news that Fox had cut him from the show was breaking, the star of "NCIS: Los Angeles" tweeted that "Nobody can bring you peace but yourself."] 

The “Real American Stories” website is still up, now as an extension of the television series. The site currently includes profiles of Americans, including some celebrities, who share their lessons about fulfilling their dreams and helping others. (The LL Cool J interview cannot currently be found on the site.)

The cable show hosted by Palin is being cast as program in the same vein, focused on inspirational people who have overcome obstacles in life. The premiere episode, which airs Thursday at 7 p.m. PDT, is set to feature a piece about a Marine who sacrificed his life for his fellow soldiers, and a story about a stockbroker who helps underprivileged youth pay for college.

“As Americans, we aspire to greatness,” Palin says in a promo for the show. “When we dream, we dream big. We reach out, we pick each other up. We pride ourselves on our make up and our character.”

Sarah Palin's Fox News series debuts with Toby Keith, LL Cool J and Jack Welch

Sarah Palin’s media domination continues this week with the debut Thursday of “Real American Stories,” a new series on Fox News hosted by the former Alaska governor about people with “real-life tales of overcoming adversity.”

The first installment, which airs Thursday at 7 p.m. Pacific time in place of “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren,” will feature stories about a Marine who died to save his fellow soldiers and a stock broker who helps underprivileged students pay for college. The series is part of the deal Palin struck in January to join the network as a contributor. The extent of her role on the program is unclear, but she interviewed people in studio for some of the segments.

The premiere episode also boasts an eclectic trio of celebrity guests. Country music star Toby Keith will discuss his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),” while rapper LL Cool J and former General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch will discuss their professional successes in a segment called “In Their Own Words.”

“Real American Stories” will re-air April 4 at 6 p.m. Pacific. The network has not yet announced the date for a second episode.

The Fox News series comes on the heels of Palin signing a deal with Discovery Communications to star in a documentary series about Alaska that will air later this year on TLC. “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” the show’s working title, is being produced by A-list reality TV producer Mark Burnett.

Meanwhile, Levi Johnston, the former boyfriend of Palin’s daughter Bristol, is also hoping to get into the action. He’s pitching his own testosterone-charged reality show about his life in Alaska. “If I could wave my magic wand, I would want it to premiere at the exact same hour, minute and second as Sarah Palin’s does,” Stuart Krasnow, the executive producer of Johnston’s series, told the Washington Post.

-- Matea Gold

Photo: Sarah Palin on the set of "Real American Stories." Credit: Fox News

Sarah Palin, Hollywood critic, pitches television networks on Alaska series

Under the heading of “If you can’t beat ‘em,” Sarah Palin, who recently complained indignantly about Hollywood’s portrayal of her family, is now shopping her own series to the television networks. This week, the former Alaska governor has been meeting with network executives to pitch them on a docudrama about her home state, a show first reported by Entertainment Weekly. In a sign of her seriousness, Palin has teamed up with A-list producer Mark Burnett, whose show “Survivor” kicked off the reality television craze in the United States.

After meetings earlier this week with ABC, CBS and even "Fox Hollywood," as she likes to call that network, sources told The Times that the two visited the NBC suites on Thursday. One person familiar with the pitch said the show sounded like a nature documentary similar to Discovery's "Planet Earth" series and did not appear to have the makings of a prime-time broadcast series.

It remains to be seen whether Palin herself would be featured on the series. Her telegenic persona, which she demonstrated Tuesday on “The Tonight Show,” has triggered speculation that the onetime Republican vice presidential candidate would seek her own talk show. The conservative star has signed on as an analyst for Fox News, a move that has effectively kept her part of the political mix since she abruptly resigned from office. Meanwhile, her eldest daughter, Bristol, has signed on to make her acting debut on an episode of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

Palin perhaps is savvy enough to recognize that if she doesn’t pitch her own show, Hollywood may co-opt her story without her cooperation. In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Debra Messing is slated to star in an ABC comedy called “Wright vs. Wrong” that centers on “a driven conservative pundit who tries to maintain her public persona despite facing her own vulnerabilities.”

Burnett, who is traveling today, was unavailable for comment.

-- Matea Gold and Maria Elena Fernandez

Photo: Sarah Palin on "The Tonight Show" on Tuesday. Credit: NBC

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President Obama's first State of the Union draws more than 48 million viewers

More than 48 million people tuned in for President Obama’s first State of the Union speech Wednesday night, 4 million less than watched his first joint address to Congress in February 2009 shortly after taking office.

Obama’s 70-minute speech, which aired on 11 networks, drew a bigger audience than all but two of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union addresses, according to Nielsen. (More than 51 million tuned in for Bush’s first official State of the Union in 2002, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and 62 million watched in 2003.) President Clinton’s first official State of the Union in 1994 drew 45.8 million viewers.

-- Matea Gold

Fox News confirms Sarah Palin is joining as a contributor [Updated]

Sarah Palin might not be taking on Oprah, but the one-time GOP vice presidential candidate has made good on predictions that she has a future in television.

The former Alaska governor is joining Fox News as a contributor, an executive at the cable news network said today, confirming news first reported by the New York Times. Palin will appear as a commentator on programs across the network, joining a lineup of pundits that includes fellow conservatives Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee. She will also help host a recurring series that profiles everyday Americans.

With her hiring, Fox News is bringing on a high-profile figure whose controversial pronouncements on issues such as healthcare reform have helped drive sharp partisan debate. The move is likely to boost speculation that Palin, who left office before the end of her first term as governor, wants a platform to remain in the public eye in order to make a bid for the presidency in 2012.

[Updated at 12:19 p.m.: “Gov. Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum, and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the Fox News lineup,” Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Palin said. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”]

[Updated at 12:32 p.m.: Palin will make her first appearance as a contributor Tuesday night on "The O'Reilly Factor," The Times has learned.]

-- Matea Gold

Obama's media tour continues with 'Letterman' appearance on Monday

President Obama’s media blitz shows no sign of letting up. As he pulls out all the stops to make the case for healthcare reform, Obama is planning to make the rounds this Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union.” He’ll also conduct an interview with Univision. (“Fox News Sunday” has pointedly not been included.)

On Monday, Obama tackles a different time period when he visits CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” – the first appearance of a sitting U.S. president on that program. But it should be old hat for Obama, who was Letterman’s guest on the show five times before taking office.

-- Matea Gold