Video: Hannity apologizes for creative editing
posted at 3:00 pm on November 12, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
I scolded Fox for its creative editing yesterday; it’s only fair to show Sean Hannity doing the right thing and apologizing for it last night. It’s a classy apology, acknowledging that Stewart got it right and that they deserved the criticism. Hannity even manages to graciously thank Stewart at the end:
Good job.
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That was not a Great American Thing to do…
ninjapirate on November 12, 2009 at 3:01 PM
He’ll still never hear the end of it. Double standards and all that.
JammieWearingFool on November 12, 2009 at 3:02 PM
YEAH FOR HANNITY!
That was an awesome thing to do. I wonder if Stewart will mention this?
therightscoop on November 12, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Is Jon Stewart getting a gift’s certificate to Ruth’s Chris Steak Jouse?
ninjapirate on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Good for Sean.
Subsunk
Subsunk on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Inadvertent?
If you say so, Sean.
Sure hope somebody’s taken to task for this. It’s not acceptable.
Hawkins1701 on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Exactly the right thing. This will all be forgotten by this weekend.
johnnynucleo on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Steak
JouseHouseninjapirate on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
At least he was man enough to admit an error.
Terrye on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Something like that from Obama the morning of Jan 20, 2013 would be nice. “We screwed up! Sorry America. It was mistake…”
WashJeff on November 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
I do hope whoever did that is now fired.
Punditpawn on November 12, 2009 at 3:04 PM
good job Sean!
cmsinaz on November 12, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Fox New, definitely fair and balanced.
TwilightStruggler on November 12, 2009 at 3:04 PM
While Hannity’s show annoys me with its ouright one-sidedness, Hannity himself has always been a class act.
MadisonConservative on November 12, 2009 at 3:05 PM
LOL. Probably.
shick on November 12, 2009 at 3:06 PM
The buck stops with Sean, and Sean knows this. He apologized, which was the right thing to do. However…I’m sure that some insipid dolt did this, without his knowledge. That is why authority is delegated out, but in the end, Sean was responsible, and took responsibility for it. Obama…you might want to take a lesson, and learn how it’s done. Stop passing the buck, and take what you’ve done, and take responsibility for it. And not just the good stuff…if there is any good stuff.
capejasmine on November 12, 2009 at 3:06 PM
For credibility’s sake, I am really glad he did this. Average American’s are abandoning the main stream media because they spread lies and don’t back down. We can win with the truth, because the ideals we believe in are the ones that founded this country.
search4truth on November 12, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Good job for apologizing, Sean! Now don’t do it again.
terryannonline on November 12, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Good for Sean!
Have Olby ever apologized for countless misrepresentations?
Just askin’.
Norwegian on November 12, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Okay then.
myrenovations on November 12, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I sure am glad I don’t work for any of the perfect folks who comment here.
Cindy Munford on November 12, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Not according to the libs… it’s a smarmy “we got caught” apology and they won’t accept it unless he quits or the offending party is fired.
Skywise on November 12, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Wait a sec. Since FoxNews isn’t a real news network, does that mean this wasn’t a real apology?
Doughboy on November 12, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Huh? I am only reading from a transcript on another website, but didn’t he apologize for an “inadverdent mistake,” not for “creative editing?”
Isn’t that a lot different? The headline makes it seem as though he admitted to purposefully misleading his viewers.
Joe Caps on November 12, 2009 at 3:08 PM
did you even have to ask?
:-)
cmsinaz on November 12, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Compare this to the, er, “honesty” on a typical show with Keith Olbermann – the Edward R. Morrow of our time and a shining pillar of integrity, consistency and truth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkYmS5ylCrk
Good Lt on November 12, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I’m thinking this is a very easy mistake to make. Everything is server-based anymore (well, from my experience anything on tape eventually makes its way into a media server for editing and playback), and it’s easy to look through hundreds of hours of video trying to find the best shots and get it mixed up with other video from another shoot (especially if it’s very similar video).
TheBlueSite on November 12, 2009 at 3:09 PM
cripes, you’d think he kidnapped the Lindbergh baby the way people are carrying on about this… essentially they aired “file footage” of the previous event with the most recent — if that’s the best you can get Hannity or FOX on, then you’re beyond desperate.
D2Boston on November 12, 2009 at 3:09 PM
While it was infinitely better than the insipid “I’m sorry if anyone was offended” we always get from liberals, but I think it was a little bit snarky to say to Stewart “thanks for watching.”
pedestrian on November 12, 2009 at 3:10 PM
This will not be jumped on that much by the MSM because they will not want to draw attention to the 9-12 protest and how big it actually was.
zmdavid on November 12, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Lets move on!!! Geez. Mistakes happen.
Andy in Agoura Hills on November 12, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Have not been a Hannity fan – at all; now maybe a grudging one. That was bang on.
Randy
williars on November 12, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Now I want to see Katie, Charlie and the rest of the MSM sycophants say they are sorry for helping rig the 2008 Election.
I’ll be waiting. . .
RedNewEnglander on November 12, 2009 at 3:11 PM
See? All you have to do is step away from the chicken.
Rocks on November 12, 2009 at 3:11 PM
It’s a good thing the left wing nutosphere holds it journalists to standards and criticizes them when they call people high-school-age sexual slurs.
BECAUSE OF TEH PRINCIPLESZZ!@!!
Good Lt on November 12, 2009 at 3:11 PM
I was glad he jumped on this right away. Stewart may be the big hypocrite when it comes to creative editing but Hannity came out the bigger man. Just don’t do it again, I hold Fox to higher standards than the other networks because they are all we got.
Daemonocracy on November 12, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Good!
Yep. Unfortunately.
newton on November 12, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Sean has class.
royzer on November 12, 2009 at 3:12 PM
At least conservatives actually address their mistakes. Nothing like the blatant liberal lies such as MSNBC’s cropping of the AR15 carrying protester to hide his skin color. I never heard any apologies about that heinous act.
Dopavash on November 12, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Actually, Hannity always looks a little smarmy, which is one reason he’s so irritating, but this is fine.
Now, if you guys will just cut the New York Tomes some slack. Or is that Michelle?
Bleeds Blue on November 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Classy, which is why I’m sure The Left won’t get it.
SouthernGent on November 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Times
Bleeds Blue on November 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Which was my point yesterday for harping on the “Fox News” messed up, no, Hannity messed up. And he has now apologized.
WoosterOh on November 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM
+1.
Rebar on November 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM
I love the double standard. For months after the election of the filthy lying coward, we were told to give him the benefit of the doubt and not immediately assume that he was leading us down the path to socialism. Sean Hannity has one spotty video segment and the level of squealing would have you think that he committed some high crime or treason.
Bottom line, things like giving the benefit of the doubt need to work both ways, not just when you like the the person. It is hypocritical beyond measure to not extend the benefit just because you hate the messenger.
highhopes on November 12, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Well done, Sean.
AnninCA on November 12, 2009 at 3:16 PM
I really hope Henry Waxman has not heard about this.
There will be investigations…
Joe Caps on November 12, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Raising Arizona? HA!
cjtony97 on November 12, 2009 at 3:19 PM
Has NBC apologized for the rigged gas tank explosions yet?…CBS for the forged documents?….ABC for The View?
Well, none of that was as serious as trying to falsify the size of a crowd, so they get a pass. Send Hannity to federal prison!
/sarc
TugboatPhil on November 12, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Swift, genuine and light hearted. Exactly the way that was needed.
Lefties will never let it go, but the millions who watch FOX will accept it for what it was, a mistake.
Jvette on November 12, 2009 at 3:21 PM
I’m glad he did this. Shouldn’t have happened. Don’t ever do it again Sean.
ted c on November 12, 2009 at 3:22 PM
If you ever listen to Beck on the radio, imagine Sean is the “stupid” voice he argues with all the time. It’s twice as funny that way.
lorien1973 on November 12, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Actually that was a pretty half-assed apology, but it’s better than I expected. It’s not as if he would ever admit openly on-air that he purposefully lied anyway.
crr6 on November 12, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Good for the apology. And do not do it again.
BTW, has MSNBC ever apologized for its creative editing out the head of the black guy at one of the tea parties?
rbj on November 12, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Conservatives have class.
Thune on November 12, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Sorry for the OT, but …
Obama Administration Intends to Purge Republicans From the Civil Service
darwin on November 12, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Thing is, I don’t know how they could tell it was creatively edited as there weren’t THAT many more people at the 9-12 event than at Bachman’s, right? What did they say 50,000? Not THAT different than 10,000…
UnderstandingisPower on November 12, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Ha!
mikeyboss on November 12, 2009 at 3:29 PM
To err is human and to forgive is divine but to admit you are wrong takes strong character and enormous courage.
rplat on November 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM
The NYT claims to be THE source for “all the news that’s fit to print.” They make large claims for themselves about their “layers of editorial fact-checking” and cluck their tongues at people like Hannity. They claim that they were THE SOURCE for news and information.
Hannity’s a pundit/rodeo clown. Right?
One, according to the White House, isn’t part of a real media organization. The other has all but declared itself to be the be-all-and-end-all of fact, truth and justice in the USA – an unelected “fourth branch of government.”
An amusing and satisfying exercise is to read the corrections page of the NYT on a daily basis to see just what kinds of things slip through these “layers of editors and fact-checkers.”
The NYT doesn’t get any slack. A paper that awards Walter Duranty a Pulitzer after whitewashing the atrocities of Stalin and won’t return it doesn’t get to pretend it’s the arbiter of facts and truths.
Good Lt on November 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM
It was both a good thing for Hannity to do, as well as Jon Stewart. If we are going to cheer Stewart when he bashes CNN (which is great), we need to be there for him when he is completely correct regarding Fox. I think Stewart’s a jerk liberal, but lately he’s gotten into the “keeping media honest” thing, and I’m all for that. So, he’s a jerk who now has a little more of my respect.
jeffthevoter on November 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Bravo!!!! I knew they would do the right thing!!!!
dec5 on November 12, 2009 at 3:33 PM
A timely apology always goes a long way toward redress. Hannity is smart. He knows what he had to do here.
I find the lack of scrutiny being applied to Hannity’s explanation odd. To say it was inadvertent does not suffice. An apology is not an explanation. An explanation certainly would be nice.
It seems very unlikely for such a deliberate series of actions to be taken inadvertently. I guess the error could have been made in the initial clip request. But, I say that’s about as likely as accidentally wiping your nose instead of your butt before you leave the restroom.
Somebody made the decision to deceive Hannity viewers. How can such a well-produced show make this error? Why does this so-called error directly correspond to Hannity’s on-air claims?
An explanation by Hannity could put the confusion to rest. But as it is he has apologized for professional malpractice but has not defined his transgressions.
During the clips in question, Hannity and Bachmann are talking up the numbers. They blow right through WaPo figures to embrace the most liberal count of the day. The footage supports their premise. It looks like it was doctored to further Hannity’s premise that he MSM downplayed the numbers.
Imagine if Olbermann had done this to prove a smaller turnout. Nobody would believe him.
The Race Card on November 12, 2009 at 3:33 PM
You just reminded me. We’re almost out of toilet paper.
The Race Card on November 12, 2009 at 3:35 PM
I’m sure the powers that be in the MSM will give it the coverage it requires for the sake of correcting deceptive reporting. Just look at how they got the word out for the 9/11 gathering in Washington. The initial reporting had it wrong by a factor of 10+. I’m sure someone was taken to task for that!
Itchee Dryback on November 12, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Calm down critter. Just because Hannity didn’t take 10 weeks to dwell on his apology, or hold a summit, or take a freakin poll to see what he should say, does not mean it was half-assed. He was direct, genuine, and publicly accepted responsibility for his error. That. is. an. apology.
redwhiteblue on November 12, 2009 at 3:36 PM
but but but but…..
I thought nobody went to the Tea Party events either
notagool on November 12, 2009 at 3:37 PM
LOL considering the drop in viewership and readership for the MSM news programming and print more and more of them must be watching FOX News to see how it should be done. Way to go, Sean! Show them what it is to be professional and classy instead of the Obama hacks that they are.
mozalf on November 12, 2009 at 3:41 PM
For Fox News, this was a rare occurrence. The New York Times has an entire staff dedicated to distortion. How’s Jayson Blair, by the way?
MadisonConservative on November 12, 2009 at 3:42 PM
WTG, Sean.
You’re a great American.
Mark Boabaca on November 12, 2009 at 3:43 PM
It’s not like Hannity used a forged, say, birth certificate or law school record of a sitting president.
Some staffer screwed up, he took responsibility. That’s called good journalism, and Hannity’s technically not even a journalist.
TXUS on November 12, 2009 at 3:44 PM
YAWN
Fed45 on November 12, 2009 at 3:48 PM
Is it wrong that these chicken references make me laugh every time one pops up? I can’t help it. I am two.
BrideOfRove on November 12, 2009 at 3:53 PM
“inadvertent”
It did seem that way. It’s not like they needed the old 9/12 b-roll to make it look impressive. The video from the Bachmann rally would have worked just fine.
Kind of a weak call of bias from the libs.
If they need to have an example of bias spelled out for them, they could read any of Goldberg’s stuff. Not that they will.
Jewels on November 12, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Race Card:
The mistake was probably just that, because it would have been incredibly easy for anyone to “catch them” if they were trying to deceive, which is exactly what happened. Also, as pointed out in other reports on this, they didn’t even need to fake anything, the numbers spoke for themselves. Were you looking for something like, “The guy who put this together mixed in the wrong file, which was in the same folder as all his other files because he’s sloppy”? If so, ok, he could have done that – I just figured it was obvious that it was something like this that led to this. It isn’t Fox that’s out of material – they have no taboos in the news, unlike the MSM, which is only allowed to print 1/2 the story.
jeffthevoter on November 12, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Ah, so one day you will have to be in The Party in order to get a good job. Nice that we’re that we’re finally catching up to 1917.
Axeman on November 12, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Where was the apology? He said Jon is “right”, which everyone knew anyway, and then said it was a “mistake”, which is more like an excuse than an apology. He then proceeded to sarcastically thank Stewart’s staff for watching. Class.
crr6 on November 12, 2009 at 3:59 PM
That is an excellent point. However, I see crap all the time…. like the day of Maj. Hasan shootings… all over the place talk about how all the tours of duty soldiers have to do causes them to snap… I’m sorry but how many tours did he do? Where is all the snapping from soldiers who actually have done many tours?
Stewart is not even close to even handed on this.
petunia on November 12, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Don’t you have some butts to sniff or nuts to lick you curr dog?
thomasaur on November 12, 2009 at 4:03 PM
It’s tough to admit when you are wrong isn’t crr? You were wrong and you can’t even come as close as saying Hannity is right!
But then again you are a lib and truth is always relative for you. We don’t really expect truth from the left do we.
petunia on November 12, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Stewart pointing this out, yet ignoring 1000 daily examples of Obama/left propaganda IS SOOOOO RICH.
marklmail on November 12, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Yes.
All but.
YYZ on November 12, 2009 at 4:05 PM
No, you got it right the first time.
When is the NY Tomes going to apologize for their fake Page 1 story about John McCain’s adultery?
Del Dolemonte on November 12, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Good job Sean and nice way to end it.
ohiobabe on November 12, 2009 at 4:06 PM
+1
It was blanantly misleading and he passed it off as an inadvertent error. The error was too great for me to believe it was inadvertent.
sweeper on November 12, 2009 at 4:08 PM
I think its pretty ridiculous that Stewart devotes at least two segments a week to whining about Fox News while not even mentioning Van Jones until he resigned.
Speedwagon82 on November 12, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Imagine a liberal host apologizing….ever.
SirGawain on November 12, 2009 at 4:09 PM
The Daily Show did all that? Jon Stewart said Hasan was motivated by PTSD?
YYZ on November 12, 2009 at 4:12 PM
As a tutor, I always asked kids if they ever cheated on a test and how they did it. Sometimes, I would use their cribbing and shorthand methods as teaching methods. I explained to them that by the time they’re done prepping their cheat sheet, they’ve done as much work as studying it. In essence they had studied it.
There was no need to cheat. They already had the answers.
The Race Card on November 12, 2009 at 4:12 PM
LOL, that’s no apology. The corporation “admitted an error”. And Rather simply apologized for an error in judgment.
But Rather and Mary Mapes continue to insist that the story was true. Especially Mapes.
http://www.democracynow.org/2006/2/9/fired_cbs_producer_stands_by_documents
Del Dolemonte on November 12, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Refuting hypocrisy with hyperbole is an interesting tactic.
The Race Card on November 12, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Ah, yes, class — spoken by CRR6, the arbiter of same.
suzeecue on November 12, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Sweeper is the new leader of the Hannity Truthers :) I kid…
jeffthevoter on November 12, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Um, Ed, that was no gracious thanks.
Hannity was poking fun at Stuart and his writers for watching that which they disparage.
Count to 10 on November 12, 2009 at 4:33 PM
It takes an honest man to publicly admit a mistake when it is pointed out by a critic, and Hannity had the guts and class to admit it.
No doubt that others in the MSM will claim that it was deliberate, not “inadvertent”, as Hannity said.
This could have been the result of some staffer mistakenly inserting the wrong tape into a VCR or DVD player. If they’re smart, Hannity and the Fox News executives will be scolding the guilty party behind the scenes, warning him/her of the dangers of even the appearance of deceptive reporting, even if no deceit was intended.
Hannity showed lots of class. What would Dan Rather have done?
Steve Z on November 12, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Now the the lefties finally have some justification for calling it “Faux News”? Don’t count on it.
ddrintn on November 12, 2009 at 4:37 PM
More class than MSNBC has ever shown.
ddrintn on November 12, 2009 at 4:38 PM
I wouldn’t argue with that, but please tell me that MSNBC isn’t the standard to go by.
sweeper on November 12, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Good for Hannity.
It would only have been a big deal if he didn’t admit a mistake.
A responsible commentator does not indulge in teasing.
maverick muse on November 12, 2009 at 4:47 PM
BTW, this HotAir thread made a headline @ Breitbart.com
maverick muse on November 12, 2009 at 4:49 PM
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