Utahns cheer, jeer Hannity

PROVO — Organizers of the Stadium of Fire say they hand-picked Sean Hannity to host this year's Independence Day bash because of his courage and patriotism.

His radio show, heard locally on KSL Newsradio 1160, is one of the top-rated programs in Utah. And with more than 14 million listeners nationwide, the hard-hitting conservative is becoming a household name.

But some think the political commentator is the wrong man to host the major event of America's Freedom Festival at Provo, saying his radical comments do not reflect a Christian community.

In recent weeks, the Deseret Morning News has received a slew of letters both supporting and decrying Hannity's scheduled appearance at the annual concert and fireworks show at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

And in separate letters to the editor published in the Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake Tribune and Daily Herald in Provo, a group of 24 people wrote that Hannity's appearance at the Freedom Festival will be an embarrassment to Provo and Utah. "I think he's very radical," said Maxine Bounous, a resident of Provo who signed the letter but says she doesn't listen to Hannity very often because he irritates her.

"I've heard him say that all liberals are evil," she said. "I think that is terrible, accusing a whole group of people that he doesn't know of being evil."

Letters printed in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Daily Herald claimed that Hannity recently denounced all Muslims as "sick" during one of his radio shows, a claim Hannity said he never uttered.

"I personally feel it is actionable when you purposefully misquote somebody," Hannity said in a interview Wednesday with the Deseret Morning News. "I never ever, ever said anything like that. They quote me as saying something directly, which was never, ever said, and it's frankly actionable."

Hannity said he has hired an attorney to look into the matter. He said the Tribune and Daily Herald should have never published the letters because they carried inaccurate information.

"My disappointment with the newspapers is that nobody called me . . . and asked, 'Did you say it?' It shouldn't have been printed," Hannity said.

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Page Editor Vern Anderson declined to comment directly on the issue but said his paper does its best to verify that all letters are factual. Don Meyers, opinion page editor at the Daily Herald, said his paper verifies the author of each letter to the editor that it publishes.