- Hugh Hewitt
Infobox performer
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name = Hugh Hewitt
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caption =Hewitt at a conference in June 2008
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birthdate = birth date and age|1956|2|22
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spouse(s) =Hugh Hewitt (born
February 22 ,1956 ) is an American radiotalk show host, author andblog ger. He comments on politics and society from aconservative andevangelical Christian viewpoint, and frequently expresses his opinions onMedia bias in the United States .Hewitt is also a law professor at
Chapman University School of Law , and Executive Editor ofTownhall.com . He is a native ofWarren, Ohio .Biography
Hewitt attended John F. Kennedy Catholic High School [ [http://www.warrenjfk.com/History%20and%20Mission.htm History and Mission ] ] in Warren, Ohio, and, following that, Harvard University and graduated
cum laude with a B.A. in Government in 1978. After leaving Harvard, he worked as a ghostwriter forRichard Nixon inCalifornia andNew York , before going to law school at theUniversity of Michigan Law School , where he wasOrder of the Coif . Hewitt received his J.D. degree in 1983, then moved toWashington D.C. to clerk for Judges Roger Robb andGeorge MacKinnon on theU.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983–1984.Hewitt worked in the Reagan administration cite news
url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/08/29/050829fa_fact_lemann
title=Right Hook | publisher=The New Yorker |page=34
author=Nicholas Lemann
date=August 29 ,2005 |accessdate=2008-03-26 ( [http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/Townhall/pdf/newyorker.pdf Scanned copy] )] in the late 1980's.He returned to California in 1989 to oversee construction of the Richard M. Nixon Library as the Library's executive director from groundbreaking through dedication and opening. In 1990, Hewitt sparked controversy by proposing screening of researchers wishing to use the library resources — e.g., Hewitt suggested refusing admission to researchers deemed "unfriendly," — specifically
Bob Woodward — because he was "not a responsible journalist." In reaction to protests, John Taylor, a spokesman for Nixon, overturned Hewitt's decision after two days, but it became the subject of editorial rebuke in "The New York Times " anyway. [cite book
title=Watergate in American Memory: How We Remember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past
author=Michael Schudson |publisher=Basic Books |year=1992 |isbn=0465090834
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Wdasv6aPbMwC&pg=PA196&dq=Hugh-Hewitt&as_brr=3&ei=boVyR8uuF5u8swPApbiDCg&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=IwZfIy4NN1wdhvxE1OCZaDCRZ2Y ]When he left the library to practice law, Hewitt began a weekend radio talk show for the
Los Angeles radio stationKFI , where he broadcast from late 1990 to 1995. In the spring of 1992 he began co-hosting L.A.PBS member stationKCET 's nightly news and public affairs program, "Life & Times", and remained with the program until the fall of 2001, when he began broadcasting his own radio show in the afternoons. Hewitt received three Emmys for his work on "Life & Times" on KCET, and also conceived and hosted the 1996 PBS series, "Searching for God in America".Hewitt became Executive Editor of [http://www.Townhall.com/ TownHall.com] in 2006, when
Salem Communications purchased it and re-engineered it from a web magazine into a conservative new-media and activism forum. As well as blogging there, he writes a weekly column.He previously was a weekly columnist for the "Daily Standard" (the online edition of "The Weekly Standard ") and "World". He also occasionally appears as a political/social commentator on programs such as "TheDennis Miller Show", "Hardball with Chris Matthews ", "Larry King Live ", "The O'Reilly Factor " and "The Today Show". On24 April 2006 , Hewitt appeared as a guest on "The Colbert Report ".Hewitt has been criticized by
Andrew Sullivan , who calls him a "Christianist". [cite web
url=http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/f00239bd-029d-45d4-b721-e58170b0bfd0
title=Sullivan Fatigue |author=Hugh Hewitt
date=August 5 ,2006 |accessdate=2008-03-26] When Sullivan appeared on Hewitt's radio show to promote his book, "The Conservative Soul", a lively exchange resulted, during which Hewitt criticized Sullivan's book as "intellectually [,] a mess". [cite web
url=http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=1f05feeb-8739-495d-befb-5617d890b118 |title=Transcript of "Hugh Hewitt Show": Andrew Sullivan on "The Conservative Soul"
date=October 25 ,2006 |accessdate=2008-03-26]Hewitt also became a Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law during that time. He currently teaches
constitutional law [cite web
url=http://www.chapman.edu/law/faculty/hewitt.asp
title=Hugh Hewitt |work=Chapman University School of Law: Law Faculty
accessdate = 2007-12-26] and resides inIrvine, California .cite web | url=http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=loc&addr=5752+OAKLEY+TERRACE&zip=92603 | title=Fundrace 2008 | publisher=Huffington Post | accessdate=2008-05-27 ]Hugh is married to "the fetching Mrs. Hewitt," as he refers to her on the radio. They met at a fundraiser for Republican Pete Wilson.
"The Hugh Hewitt Show"
Hewitt's nationally syndicated radio show, "The Hugh Hewitt Show", is broadcast from Irvine from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM ET on weekdays. The show can be heard on 112 stations on weekdays and is syndicated by the
Salem Radio Network .Although Hewitt's background is in law, government, and politics, he also covers American cultural trends and frequently delves into the entertainment industry, offering movie reviews with "Emmett of the Unblinking Eye" every Friday evening. He frequently critiques the mainstream media on air, often inviting journalists to defend their work on the show. Interviews with
Mark Halperin ofABC news and British historianAndrew Roberts lasted the entire three hour duration of the show.His regular contributors include law professors
John Eastman Dean of Chapman University School of Law andErwin Chemerinsky ofUC Irvine Law School (whom Hewitt calls "The Smart Guys"),James Lileks ,Mark Steyn ,Christopher Hitchens , and CongressmanDavid Dreier (R-CA), as well as frequent callers from around the country.New media
Hewitt is a long-time proponent and promoter of what he, among an assortment of other conservative pundits, calls the
new media —talk radio andblog s — as a means to balance what many conservatives call "liberal bias" in the mainstream media. His own blog was described as one of the five "best-read national conservative bloggers" in a 2007 memo from theNational Republican Senatorial Committee . [ [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4483.html GOP issues rules to avoid Macaca moments - Politico.com ] ]In early 2006, he wrote an article for the "
Weekly Standard " titled "The Media's Ancien Régime", in which he outlined his belief that the idea of traditional journalism was being eroded by the ease of information facilitated by theInternet . [ [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/619njpsr.asp The Media's Ancien Régime ] ]: There is [now] too much expertise, all of it almost instantly available now, for the traditional idea of journalism to last much longer. In the past, almost every bit of information was difficult and expensive to acquire and was therefore mediated by journalists whom readers and viewers were usually in no position to second-guess. Authority has drained from journalism for a reason. Too many of its practitioners have been easily exposed as poseurs.
A recurring theme on Hewitt's show is accusing the mainstream media of liberal bias and lack of transparency, and the unwillingness of its members to answer questions about their own political beliefs. Hewitt has said that the modern paradigm of reportage, whereby journalists make a claim to objectivity while never answering questions about their own beliefs, allows a deep-seated culture of liberal media bias to be perpetuated. He is fond of saying that financial reporters are never allowed to write about companies in which they have an interest, while political reporters routinely refuse to answer questions that might reveal their own political positions and thus allow the reader to adjust for any bias, whether conscious or subconscious, that their reporting might contain.
Hewitt will frequently invite members of the mainstream media on to his show and quiz them about their own political beliefs and why they think those beliefs should remain a secret. Eric Black of the
Minneapolis "Star Tribune ",Helen Thomas of theWhite House Press Corps andMark Halperin of ABC News, among others, have appeared on Hewitt's show and debated with him the question of whether they should be obliged to disclose their political beliefs. For example, during a 2006 exchange with Hewitt, long-time "Washington Post " reporter and columnistThomas Edsall gave his opinion that Democrats outnumbered Republicans 15-25 to 1 among members of the mainstream media. [http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=2a63c078-2e33-46d8-b85a-a91a5257fca2]Since writing the book "A Mormon in the White House?", Hewitt's commentary on his radio program and blog in support of Republican candidate
Mitt Romney has led to the observation that he "finds himself under suspicion of being a cheerleader for the Romney campaign." [cite news
title = Romney speech sparks flame war?
url = http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishwrap/2007/12/romney_speech_sparks_flame_war.html
work = Fishwrap
author = Robert Stacy McCain
publisher = The Washington Times
date = 2007-12-09 ] Hewitt has donated $2,300 for the Mitt Romney Presidential campaign in 2008.cite web | url=http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=loc&addr=5752+OAKLEY+TERRACE&zip=92603 | title=Fundrace 2008 | publisher=Huffington Post | accessdate=2008-05-28 ] In the leadup to the Feb. 5, 2008, republican primaries, Hewitt became known for the slogan "A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain." After McCain clinched the nomination, Hugh evaluated McCain in light of the Democratic party nominee and now supports McCain in the general election. This support grew stronger with John's selection of Sarah Palin as candidate for VP. [cite news
title = The Blogometer 2/4: : The Day Before The Storm
url = http://blogometer.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/02/24_the_day_befo.html
format =
work = The Hotline
publisher = National Journal
date = Feb. 4, 2008
accessdate = 2008-02-07 ]Books
* "A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney" (2007, ISBN 1-59698-502-X)
* "A Guide to Christian Ambition: Using Career, Politics, and Culture to Influence the World" (2006, ISBN 0-7852-8871-6)
* "Painting the Map Red: The Fight to Create a Permanent Republican Majority" (2006, ISBN 0-89526-002-6)
* "Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World" (2005, ISBN 0-7852-8804-X)
* "If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It" (2004, ISBN 0-7852-6319-5)
* "In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition" (2003, ISBN 0-7852-6395-0)
* "The Embarrassed Believer" (1998, ISBN 0-8499-1419-1)
* "Searching for God in America: The Companion Volume to the Acclaimed TV Series" (1996, ISBN 0-7881-9914-5)
* "First Principles: A Primer of Ideas for the College-Bound Student" (1987, ISBN 0-89526-793-4)References
External links
* [http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/ Hewitt's blog at Townhall.com]
* [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HughHewitt Hewitt's columns at Townhall.com]
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/13962 Hewitt in a video debate/discussion] with Robert Wright onBloggingheads.tv
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