Sean Hannity vs. Free Republic
Two messages in my e-mail inbox this morning had very different takes on a controversy over Sean Hannity referring to Free Republic as a “fringe” site on his radio show yesterday. Audio here.
PunditGuy Bill sides with Hannity:
The freepers are freakin nuts. There are over 2,500 comments on [the FR thread on the Hannity comments] now. It’s getting seriously kooky over there.
Kevin McCullough disagrees:
He has big numbers on radio, He’s on the most watched – most trusted news channel on cable, He has two very big selling books to his name…but he’s gone and stepped in it big time. […] He doesn’t feel its necessary to reach out to those conservatives who do take their issues seriously (Freepers). […] This will not sit well with bloggers…
While “fringe” is an overused word, I would have to concur with Hannity and PunditGuy that FR qualifies, at least in the conversational sense of the word. It’s certainly not a forum for reasoned debate. Further, I don’t think FR is, in any meaningful sense, a blog. It’s a community message board.
I do agree with KMC, though, that Hannity’s calling his website “a blog” demonstrates a certain cluelessness.
Yeah it is a fringe site. I’ve seen some pretty weird conversations, and some that have turned my stomach. They might not be as deep down the slide to kookiness as Democratic Underground, but they are near the bottom portion of the slide for sure.