From Deseret News archives:
Hannity, Rocky throw a few jabs
They blame each other for delay in scheduling a debate
During his syndicated radio show Monday afternoon, Hannity accused Anderson of intentionally stalling negotiations for a debate between the two.
"We'd love to debate Rocky Anderson in Salt Lake City, but apparently Rocky can't get back to us anymore," Hannity said on the program, which airs in Utah on KSL radio (AM-1160, FM-102.7). "The mayor is too busy out protesting every other day that he just doesn't have time to negotiate the terms of the debate."
A few hours earlier, Anderson was doing just that during an anti-war rally at City Hall on the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
"(Anderson) has been putting up one obstacle after another to ensure that the debate doesn't go forward," Hannity said.
Among the roadblocks put up by Anderson, the radio-show host said, are complaints over which media outlets can cover the event.
"He's obviously looking for an excuse," Hannity said.
E-mail communications between the mayor's office and a Hannity producer, however, show that it was Hannity's representatives who put restrictions on media coverage of the debate.
In a March 12 e-mail from producer Eileen Lofrese, obtained by the Deseret Morning News through a Government Records Access and Management Act request, the mayor's office was told that a Fox News crew, the local Fox affiliate and KSL radio would be the only broadcast media outlets allowed to cover the debate.
"It is fine for local newspapers to come to this event and take photos," Lofrese writes in the e-mail. "However, I have to insist that only Fox and KSL can video/cover the event as they are Sean's loyal affiliates that he has commitments to."
After listening to Hannity's on-air comments, Patrick Thronson, communications director for the mayor's office, said the talk-show host "is not telling the truth."
"Mr. Hannity initially expressed his desire to have an open and public debate on some of the most vital issues of our time," Thronson said. "Now he wants to limit access to that debate to print journalists and only those broadcast media outlets with whom he has financial ties. It seems that Mr. Hannity's conception of this event is less about public education and more about a cynical media ploy."
Because Anderson is a public official and responsible to all members of the media and general public, the mayor does not participate in exclusive events to which only selected media outlets have access, Thronson said.
Anderson was scheduled to debate Hannity on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" show March 8, but the producers canceled the segment.
"Mayor Anderson is still ready and willing to debate Mr. Hannity," Thronson said. "The claim that the mayor is making it impossible to schedule (a debate) is a complete fabrication."
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com
