A.J. Hammer

On Wednesday night's edition of Showbiz Tonight on CNN Headline News, anchor A. J. Hammer churned up the hype about Sarah Palin making an estimated $12 million. To analyze this haul, Hammer brought on Cathy Areu, creator of Catalina magazine (for Latina women) and a contributor to The Washington Post Magazine, and Rachel Zalis of Life and Style Weekly. But it was Areu who suggested Palin was a dumb and classless redneck:

HAMMER: Hey, ladies, my jaw dropped when I found out that Sarah Palin made an estimated $12 million since she left her job as Alaska`s governor because that was less than a year ago. And at that time, a lot of people thought she was making a huge mistake by leaving that post. Cathy, do you think that she`s in danger of losing that down-home image, that relatable image that really endeared her to a lot of people?

CATHY AREU: Sarah Palin could do no wrong for so many people. I mean, she is a female Larry the Cable Guy minus the class and intelligence.

Fox's family-friendly "American Idol" is headed down the tubes if Howard Stern and Perez Hilton have anything to do with it.

Stern, while now on XM Sirius Satellite Radio, dominated the public airwaves for more than 20 years as a shock jock. Regular discussions on his show revolved around celebrities' sexual proclivities, complete with explicit language. Strippers and porn stars were regular guests. As of 2005, the FCC had fined him more than any other radio broadcaster to the tune $2.5 million. He migrated to satellite radio to escape FCC rules.

Gossip blogger Hilton built his career by enhancing paparazzi shots of celebrities with crude white drawings of genitalia and bodily fluids and posting them on his site, PerezHilton.com, and outing gay celebrities. He injected politics into the Miss USA pageant last spring as a judge when he asked about same-sex marriage. He continually harassed former Miss California Carrie Prejean on his Web site after she expressed a belief in the traditional view of marriage in response to his question.  

After "Idol" judge Simon Cowell, known for his brutal honesty, announced on Jan. 11 that this would be his last season as part of the wildly popular singing competition, Stern and Hilton both pitched themselves as his replacement, and entertainment journalists applauded. 

CNN’s Headline News (or HLN) figured out a liberal angle as it replayed clips of the Fox News interview with Bristol Palin: she’s "glamorizing teen pregnancy." Anchor A.J. Hammer repeatedly promoted this assertion during his show Showbiz Tonight on February 17, including this boast: "Also, new tonight: Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter, Bristol, giving her very first TV interview since becoming a teen mom. But Showbiz Tonight dares to ask, is Bristol Palin glamorizing teen pregnancy?"

Hammer’s two guests, CNN and CBS legal analyst Lisa Bloom and Tanika Ray of the syndicated show Extra, both hammered the Palin points from the left:

HAMMER: Some people might say that by going on television to talk about being a teen mom, 18-year-old Bristol Palin is somehow glamorizing teen pregnancy. Lisa, is that how you see it? Or do you think perhaps she is giving teens a well-needed reality check on what it is like to be a teen mom?

Headline News “Showbiz Tonight” host A.J. Hammer began a Jan.14th segment with this little number: “So is Ann Coulter the worst guest ever or is she just plain good TV?” The question was plainly rhetorical, because Hammer’s mind was already made up. His two guests unambiguously disliked Coulter, and the three launched immediately into a brutal session of name-calling, never once entertaining a different opinion on the popular author.
 
Lisa Bloom, anchor of CNN’s “In Session” and PR flack Howard Bragman, author of the book, Where’s My Fifteen Minutes?, were unabashed in their disdain for the conservative pundit. Bloom called Coulter a “mean, nasty person” and likened her to the Grinch, saying her heart is “three sizes too small.”

Bragman was no fan of Coulter, either. “She’s the most obnoxious woman on TV; she relishes in her obnoxiousness.”
 
This segment comes after Coulter’s recent high-profile interviews on CBS’s “The Early Show”, NBC’s “Today” show, and ABC’s “The View.” Since Coulter’s interviews have made headlines all over the media, it should have been easy to find a dissenting opinion on the ‘disruptive’ guest. But instead, Hammer just hosted an echo chamber.

CNN Headline News' Showbiz Tonight host A.J. Hammer invited  HGTV host Lauren Lake and Extra's Carlos Diaz on to the program yesterday to discuss Oprah Winfrey's refusal to book Governor Sarah Palin on her show.

Both Hammer and Lake teamed up on Diaz and bombarded him with why it was not a political decision for Oprah to refuse Palin on her show while endorsing Obama.

HAMMER: Carlos, it’s the Oprah Winfrey Show. She said what she was going to do. She sets the plate, and she’s sticking with it, so I don’t really get what the problem is.

DIAZ: No I agree. I agree, but my point is it’s tough to back one candidate and then completely ignore the Republican Party. I know she’s sticking to her guns, but still.

HAMMER: So because she’s Oprah Winfrey, it’s almost like a different set of rules apply?