Update (2/9): More on Hannity from Debbie Schlussel.
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I usually don’t get involved with other bloggers’ problems, but I’m making an exception today.
Debbie Schlussel is one of my favorite bloggers. A resident of Michigan, she does first-hand reporting on what’s going on with the large Muslim community in her area and publishes exclusives on her blog and in her column, which sometimes appears in the New York Post.
In her latest column, “An Ugly Invocation,” she wrote about Husham al-Husainy, a Muslim imam who delivered the invocation at the Democratic National Convention. Debbie has done extensive background research on this man and has even attended Islamic events undercover to expose al-Husainy’s terrorism-supporting views. More here.
For the past couple of days, Sean Hannity has been talking about this issue on “Hannity & Colmes.” Debbie has accused Hannity of citing her work without giving her credit. Since some of her information is exclusive, it’s obvious where he’s getting his information.
I don’t watch Hannity’s show or listen to him on the radio because I find him too frenetic (esp. when speaking to callers). That aside, if he’s reporting on al-Husainy and lifting material from Debbie’s exclusives without citing her work, it’s plagiarism.
Debbie has documented her attempts to get Hannity and his producer to clear up the whole thing by having her on the air to talk about and defend her work or at the very least, to credit her as a source. She writes (emphasis added):
The first night, Tuesday Night, I contacted Sean on his cellphone. He was, as usual, “too busy” and couldn’t be bothered to do the right thing. He admitted he knew he used my work uncredited, and I managed to get him to promise to have me on to discuss my original work, he said, “if we talk about this again on the show.” I also suggested having Al-Husainy, himself, on along with myself, since I’m only the single commentator who actually knows something–actually, a lot–about him. Sean promised that if they had the imam on, he and John Finley would have me on, too.
But, as is usual for Sean these days, he did not keep his word. Last night, not only did they rip my work off again, but they questioned it (without mentioning my name or allowing me to be on to defend it). Suddenly, Hannity was saying Al-Husainy “reportedly” was at pro-Hezbollah rallies, and Colmes claimed, “We’ve been unable to confirm that,” and questioned my New York Post column’s accuracy.
Well, that’s interesting to me–they never attempted to “confirm” this in the least. Since I’m the source of the info–I WAS THERE AT THOSE RALLIES and wrote about it in the New York Post column they ripped off–why didn’t they contact me? I have pictures, etc.
I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to do all the leg work for a story, only to have someone, especially a fellow conservative, steal from you. Debbie isn’t making any headway with Hannity or the producer, so I wanted to raise awareness about what’s going on. As Debbie mentioned, conservatives supposedly are big property rights supporters. Well, intellectual property counts, too.
Sometimes the issue of whether someone plagiarized is fuzzy. Other times, it’s crystal clear. If Sean Hannity’s information about the terrorism-supporting imam was obtained from Debbie’s work, and if he didn’t cite Debbie’s work, it’s plagiarism.
Shame on you, Sean. But it’s not too late to make amends.
