Fox News host and former Atlanta radio guy
Sean Hannity
has logged a year at the 10 p.m. hour
Credit: Jennifer Brett
Credit: Jennifer Brett
on television so we asked him 10 questions to mark the occasion. (
). The Fox News Channel happily supplied ratings data showing the network thrashing its competitors, namely Atlanta-based CNN.
So, here's what Hannity had to say:
Q: Can you tell me some good stories about your buddy Neal Boortz (the former daily morning host on WSB who still files regular updates for the station).
A: Yes. Can we go off the record?
Q: What did you most enjoy about your time in Atlanta?
A: Every Monday before Thanksgiving, (civil rights activist and host of an annual Thanksgiving feast for the homeless) Hosea Williams would call and say, 'We're not going to make it.' And he would make me come down there. He was one of the greatest people I ever met in all my years in media.
Q: How do you keep your television and radio shows current?
A: I'm a news junkie. I read four newspapers, I scour the Internet. It's in my blood. I mostly just read, read, and read some more. I love to read the sports pages, business pages, the obvious news that people will be talking about. Even when I'm on vacation.
Q: So you actually read the newspaper?
A: I still like to read hard copies. I was a paperboy when I was 8. My first paper route was Newsday, then later the Daily News. I remember sitting by the heater in my dining room and I would read the paper. I'd be folding them but I'd be reading them.
Q: What do you think the media in general get right and wrong?
A: If I pick up the AJC and you guys don't do a good job, after a while I stop reading. In general the media is stubbornly out-of-touch liberal. There's a part of me that is thankful because that leaves a niche for me. I think the media is too politically correct. NBC was saying about the guy who beheaded the woman in Oklahoma: it was workplace violence. There's a fear to just say what it is. I don't understand it.
Q: What's your prediction this November?
A: This is probably one of the most unpredictable elections. I don't feel like the GOP has outlined a strategy to lead. Everybody's kind of made up their mind on Obama, the scandals - the health care website, the VA, Benghazi, Fast and Furious. Add to that Crimea, the president flipping and flopping and flailing on ISIS.
Q: What issues do you think most resonate with voters?
A: There's so much incompetence. Big government doesn't work. They're incompetent. We need more freedom for health care. ISIS and the crisis of immigration. We've got to control our border.
Q: Who do you like in 2016?
A: I don't know yet. I want to hear from the governors. I would assume Gov. Perry's getting in. I would assume Rand Paul's getting in. I wouldn't be surprised to see (Ted) Cruz, (Marco) Rubio, (Scott) Walker. We have a very deep bench. The Democrats are basically Hillary (Clinton) or who?
Q: What does the GOP need to do to pitch a wider tent?
A: They've got to be the party of economic prosperity, the party that's going to keep the country safe, less government.
Q: Do you keep in touch with your Atlanta pals?
A: I just did the WSB Care-A-Thon (the annual fundraiser that raises money for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta). That, to me, is Atlanta.
