A collection of headlines from the mainstream media after a feeding frenzy to break stories regarding the 24,000+ e-mails released by the State of Alaska from Sarah Palin’s time as Governor.
The rushed headlines and analysis reveal the mainstream media desperately seeking ways to confirm its long-standing anti-Palin bile, without any time to consume the meaning or (lack of) importance of the e-mails.
Today shows the mainstream media at its worst, featuring insatiable publicity hounds seeking to confirm their preconceived narratives regarding a leading conservative political figure.
This list is a work in progress, as new headlines will be added (post suggestions in the comments, or e-mail me):
- CBS News – Palin’s emails: Work, disdain for the press — and a haircut: “With reporters coast-to-coast now frantically searching through 24,000 of Sarah Palin’s emails from when she was Alaska governor, here’s what we’ve seen so far: A governor who doesn’t particularly like the press, who is engaged in energy issues facing her state and who is extremely hands-on in the day-to-day business of the office.”
- The Guardian – Sarah Palin emails show life in Alaska, from tanning bed to Troopergate: “Tens of thousands of pages of Sarah Palin’s emails released on Friday offer an intimate portrait of a politician caught in an almost daily battle on issues ranging from oil exploration to an ethics investigation…. The emails are peppered with the folksy language that have become her trademark, such as “unflippinbelievable”, “holy….”, “ugh” and “thank the lord”.”
- The Washington Post – Sarah Palin e-mails show constant concern: “Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s e-mails show constant discussion and concern about how she is portrayed in the media, on matters big and small.”
- Politico – Sarah Palin camp: Bring it on: “It remains to be seen if any real news will come out of the email dump, and if the result is something short of a bombshell Palin may be able to call this one a PR win.”
- Politico – Newt Gingrich advised Sarah Palin on PR: “In an email sent shortly after Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate, Gingrich suggested a possible way for Palin to handle questions about the expenses Palin billed to the state…. Gingrich signed the e-mail: “Thanks, Newt”
- CBS News – Sarah Palin emails: The highlights: “CBS News has searched for some interesting tidbits among the thousands of exchanges.”
- HuffPo/AOL – Sarah Palin Shall Have Her Revenge On The Mainstream Media: “Like many other organizations that cover politics, we at The Huffington Post have made our arrangements to obtain the emails, have handed out assignments to reporters and are hopeful that a crowdsource army will help to pick up the slack. What are we expecting to find? Who knows? Maybe a lot of Comic Sans. Maybe some penetrating new story about Palin’s Alaska reign. Maybe it will be a hot pile of nothing! Yeah, that’s right: One possible outcome of this exercise is that it will be a complete bust.”
- The Washington Post opens Twitter account @PalinEmails – “Headlines and details about Sarah Palin’s emails during her term as governor of Alaska. Follow @FixRachel for updates from Juneau” including this tweet: “#Palinemails show show Todd Palin’s key role as an adviser.”
- The NY Times – Palin Urged Staff to Be Open With Press: “Ms. Palin’s antipathy toward the mainstream media is well known. She calls them the “lame-stream” media, and her recent One Nation bus tour was designed to make it particularly difficult for reporters to cover. But toward the beginning of her administration, in January 2007, Ms. Palin wrote a long e-mail to her senior staff members urging them to talk to the press about whatever they wanted.”
- The New Yorker – Palin Emails Out: “It may take a few days to make sense of them, or it may just take a few minutes, given the scale of the crowd-analysis operation going on. Several media outlets are asking readers to read along; there are dedicated Twitter feeds, and lists of Twitter lists, some more specialized than others.”
- Detroit News – Palin emails rarely mention Michigan, search shows: “Michigan, Detroit or its political figures rarely were the topic of discussion for former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, a search of the emails sent before she was tapped by Sen. John McCain to be his running mate reveals.”
- Business Wire Press Release: Local Student James Pfeifer Received First Box of Palin Emails: “Crivella West Incorporated, an advanced analytics and investigational research company, announced that James Pfeifer, a 7th grade student at Jefferson Middle School in Mount Lebanon, received the first box of Sarah Palin emails released today by the State of Alaska in Juneau, Alaska. James, brother of Joseph and Lauren, is the son of Debra Pfeifer and Greg Pfeifer. James was accompanied by his mother, Debra Pfeifer, an attorney with Crivella West. She is part of the Crivella West team that is digitizing over 24,000 emails released as a result of freedom of information requests. ” (Note: Crivella West was hired by NYT, WaPo and others for the project.)
- L.A. Times – Words of wisdom from supporters point to history, God: “Sarah Palin supporters across the country were quick to offer their own tips for the campaign in the weeks following her ascension to the John McCain presidential ticket. Among the words of wisdom offered: look to American history—and to God.”
- ABC News/Daily Beast – Sarah Palin Had Her Eye On Vice Presidential Slot Months Before Receiving Nomination: “Sarah Palin kept a close watch on her constituent mail in the months before Sen. John McCain picked her as the vice presidential nominee, especially a series of flattering messages suggesting she join the Republican presidential ticket.”
- NY Times – Palin Upset by Media Focus on Family in Summer 2008: “In the weeks leading up to her selection as Mr. McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin seemed to be paying particular attention to mistakes she found in news media reports about her.
Your Obama-compliant mainstream media at work.
Update: CBS News is leading the charge, but it will not release the full content of Obama’s donor conversation caught on an open microphone.
——————————————–
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
Visit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
"Maybe it will be a hot pile of nothing! Yeah, that's right: One possible outcome of this exercise is that it will be a complete bust."
Sounds like someone realized that the media is going to look like fools at the end of this. All the hype, all the crowd sourcing, and no weinergate controversy to show for their work.
It's not like the media wants look competent and knowledgeable.
My favorite tweet on this so far:
"StevenErtelt Steven Ertelt
BREAKING: Analysis of #PalinEmails shows a relative in Nigeria died and left her $10 million in a foreign bank account.
6 minutes ago"
I think that about sums it up 🙂
Oh my gosh VetHusbandFather! Thanks for that priceless belly-laugh!!
Sounds like someone realized that the media is going to look like fools at the end of this.
I'm nearly fifty-nine years old and I can't think of a time when the media didn't look like fools.
I'm trying to figure out why it would be news that the emails of the Alaska governor rarely mention… Michigan. o_0
Its so comforting to know that on a day like this, when absolutely nothing worthwhile is going on in the rest of the world, our official Democrat spokesperson-outlets have something to do to take up the slack. Idle hands are the the devil's playthings, and all that.
These people in the press are so disgusting in their portrayal of a bunch of buzzards looking for meat. They will starve. Sarah is too smart for them.
I've been reading some of the emails. So far, I've gleaned:
The Fish and Game board pushed the wolf-shooting decision onto the governor, seemingly before Palin was elected. She took the hit, when she was in office trying to help the Alaskan people with "the predator problem" suffered by fellow Alaskans. She clearly states that AK state intervention was undesired, especially the helicopter shooting.
Vindicates her. Completely.
Also, that she was concerned with getting the message straight on the issues facing Alaska.
Oh, and she was on top of staffing just after her swearing in, and wanting to ensure the State of the State speech was clear to ensure the Alaskan people knew what was going on.
Also – she wanted her administration to be open, to allow them to speak to the press.
That is through Sept. 7, 2007.
Gee, sounds like a state CEO doing a heckuva job after only a couple months in the position.
Oooooh, here's a smoking gun: she invited herself to a "bbq" and said "Right on!" about 4 times! (didn't note the date on that one….I'll get back to ya….)
I like her more now than before. Great job, MSM.
Uh, oh! Here we go . . . (ht Drudge)
The Brits are in on the act — The Guardian has displayed an email where Sarah used the word "Sheeeeesh" with a capital "S" . . . this could get ugly, huh?
"ABC News/Daily Beast – Sarah Palin Had Her Eye On Vice Presidential Slot Months Before Receiving Nomination:"
The story doesn't match the headline. There is nothing in this article that even suggests that Palin had her eye on the VP job. Some of her constituents wrote to her about it and to the writer that meant that Palin wanted it. Sheesh.
Here are the headline from WaPo (sorry for any duplicates):
-Palin blamed former staffer for bad press
-Governor was concerned about alcohol
-Tanning bed, ‘troopergate’ and other revelations
-Palin wanted less time in state capital
-E-mails show Todd’s key role
-Governor fended off critics on firing
-Trig, the press and Tina Fey
-What was redacted from Palin e-mails?
-Sarah Palin e-mails show constant concern
-Sarah Palin's Emails: Former Palin staffer discusses
The highlight/feature article is the one about Todd as advisor.
My only word on that idiocy: Hillary.
Journalism is truly dead. Only on the new media is there a hope of true journalism.
One of the latest blips on HuffPo:
To recap: The Troopergate scandal revolved around the question of why Palin fired her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan. In essence, Monegan said it was because he refused to sack Palin's hated ex-brother-in-law, the state trooper Mike Wooten. Palin said it was because Monegan wasn't a good administrator. Palin's real motives may never be known, but so far, her emails appear to be consistent with the claims she made to the public back in 2008. Monegan can blame "the Wooten issue," she wrote in a July 2008 email, "but he knows it's not true and perhaps he doesn't want a discussion about his administrative skills being made public."
"If Walt tries to go there," she said, "my response is 'nice try'." (Emphasis Mine)
In other words, the e-mails aren't validating our preconceived notion, but we are reluctant to say that they indicate she was in fact being honest.
Best is the Detroit News – she rearely mentioned Michigan. I'm actually surprised she mentioned Michigan at all. Hilarious.
"Here are the headline from WaPo"
I had no idea the WaPo had headlines, I thought they just published the leftist propaganda uncensored.
ALASKAN GOOSE AND HAWAIIAN GANDER! Link contains screen captures of comments from WaPo and the NYT articles requesting volunteers and an update on an FOIA request pertaining to Obama's Illinois Senate record.
In On the wisdom of size limits for reporters I talk about one from CBS News where the reporter breathlessly reveals that Palin asked the name of her barber, which turned out to be Speedy at the Captain Cook Hotel.
It is a completely ridiculous thing to try to pawn off as news
So far, nobody has come up with anything even embarassing. That has not stopped WaPo and a couple of others from trying to make prosaic stuff seem a bit out of kilter by overly dramatic language to the effect that Palin was "obsessed" with the media or her image "even before" she was chosen for the veep slot.
Trust me, as someone who worked for quite a few candidates and elected officials: they are ALL "obsessed" with the media. It is in the nature of governing in a democracy as well as politics that discussions and debates, winning and losing, progress or regression for people — everything — play out in the media and are shaped and affected by what reporters and editors say.
Folks,
I think we are all outraged. These people who are perpetrating a coup-de-? are not playing by any of the rules we hold to be based in morality. They are using Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". From memory – "make your opponent follow his own rule book". Use semantics to tie him up with allegations of hypocrisy.
Don't matter if your're right or wrong. You've been distracted – punch the SOB in the nose/
In a word…..YAWN.
IF this is their last, best shot…then it's a bust.
A few hours from now, in the wee hours of the morning, an anti-Palinist who was thrilled to be granted the privilege of being one of the WaPo's volunteer email-scouring army, will excitedly make the following revelation as he sits at the computer in his mom's basement:
AHA!!! GOTCHA!!! This is what we've been waiting for! Wow, I really hit the mother lode here! Proof positive of just how stupid that stupid Governor Palin is! We all know that Obama accidentally used a 2008 date recently when he signed a guestbook at Westminster Abbey, but look at this! Page after page, email after email, time after time where that stupid Sarah Palin is guilty of the exact same thing – using a 2008 date. How could the supposedly non-stupid governor of a state send out so many emails with a wrong date? Is she too stupid to know that this is 2011?
Oh wait.
Nevermind.
Ah, from our betters on the right at Commentary…
That Palin’s e-mails should be the object of such abnormal attention is testimony to her celebrity as well as the malice that she provokes in her political foes. It is, in a way, a tribute to Palin’s ability to keep the national spotlight focused on her.
The Washington Post thinks it's "harassment" to request Michael Mann's files from the University of Virginia (their Memorial Day editorial
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harassing-climate-change-researchers/2011/05/27/AG1xJMEH_story.html) but it's cool with requesting and obtaining and asking for citizen-journalists to go through 24,000 of the State of Alaska's emails involving Sarah Palin.
I've been building my own kind of list for a while now.
490 and counting.
http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/blatant-anti-palin-bias-in-the-liberal-media-a-collection/
"Crivella West Incorporated, an advanced analytics and investigational research company, announced that James Pfeifer, a 7th grade student at Jefferson Middle School in Mount Lebanon, received the first box of Sarah Palin emails released today by the State of Alaska in Juneau, Alaska. James, brother of Joseph and Lauren, is the son of Debra Pfeifer and Greg Pfeifer.
Can someone explain why a 7th grade student has been dragged into this by his parents? Srsly, that's just messed up. I can understand that the parents are partisan hacks out to get Palin, but to drag their children into this, as if the kids even care — or worse, to impart that bile to their kids… it seems rather like child abuse, doesn't it?
Can you imagine Piper being expected to take possession of Obama's college transcripts so the Palins could personally go through them all?
Yeah, neither can I…
I've said it before and I'll say it again: that this media frenzy over Palin's emails is taking place the week that the sh!t hits the fan regarding Weiner's wiener pics and dirty chats is perfect cover for Palin. No matter what the left find, she can't possibly look as bad as the sitting congressman…
I hope Andrew Sullivan is poring over this data dump with a fine tooth comb looking for why his hysteria over Todd dumping Sarah didn't quite seem appropriate, since nothing happened.
But if you're a paraphiliac working for the Atlantic, little calumnies and slanders are just part of what you dole out as something GOPers deserve.
MSNBC is live blogging the emails. New lows are being dug tonight, furiously. These "news" outlets have no shame (and no idea what "news" is or the word means). Pathetic beyond reason.
@jeannebodine
Do you think it would be harassment to ask for those disappeared records of Obungler when he was a State Senator, you know, the campaign contribution list and other sources of revenues to get an unknown community organizer promoted as the Manchurian Candidate?
Also, maybe this Manchurian Candidate's GPA at Columbia U. and anything he actually WROTE while at Columbia, such as his senior thesis on US/USSR nuke disarmament?
I've got this curiosity that no one in the lamestream MSM seems to have over these things—we know the creepier MSMers think there's a statute of limitation on journalism…! What a bunch of RICO members trying to buffalo the GOP.
They are completely deranged and not playing with a full deck. What a bust this email adventure has been so far, they're like children. So sad.
It gets better: it seems that the very moment the world found out she was the VP pick, some people were already painting shooting targets over her!
"An early look at the trove of emails released Friday from Sarah Palin's first two years as Alaska's governor gives an idea of the sudden scrutiny she faced after she was selected as the Republicans' vice presidential nominee in 2008.
Some of the messages she received at the time were blatantly threatening. In one dated Sept. 12, 2008, the sender said Palin should "be shot," using several vulgarities to refer to her. Another email the next day, supposedly from somebody in Belgium, made the same threat. [Emphasis mine]"
Now you understand why her entire family seems nowadays to sleep with their guns under their pillows.
My early and succinct verdict on Palin's Paul Revere history lesson which was posted here at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion (prior to my seeing the Professor Allison on NPR post here) was as follows:
"You Betcha She Gotcha!"
That would not have changed a bit, of course, as the opinion of Professor Allison only reinforced that of the the local "reluctant" Boston academics, Messieurs Leehey and McConville.
She was correct.
To me, the verdict (so far) on this one . . . this pervicacious press inquiry into the minute details of her official emails as Governor, seems strikingly similar:
"You Betcha She Gotcha!"
(Sheeeeesh! . . . AGAIN!!)
You suppose I could get all of that on a bumper sticker?
Or, would it be just too much information in one location?
Since they not only don't pretend to be objective but now put their bias on their front pages, can we at last stop calling these jackasses the "mainstream media" now?
I've never paid much attention to Mrs Palin. From what I've skim read of her e-mails, I've concluded that she's decidedly normal, with a great deal of positive go-get-'em energy. If that's a crime in the minds of the media, this country is in far worse shape than I thought.
The cynicism over the "wholesomeness" of her and other American personalities is unnecessary. They dislike that she is what she is, unlike the individuals they rally around who are complete and utter frauds like Weiner.
The media's overreaction towards Mrs Palin reflects poorly on them, not her. She might even gain or convert new fans from these events.
Palinophobia has reached ludicrous levels when a British national newspaper has its readers scavenging through Sarah Palin's emails.They have no relevance whatsoever to the Brits except as elitist sport for the Palinophobic liberals who buy The Guardian.
positively right.blogspot.com
In the Guardian's defense, though, if you were responsible for running a newspaper that reported on a country the size of Oregon and had the chance to go beyond your borders for any news that could possibly liven up your dull pages, wouldn't you at least pretend to try to be relevant to the more important things in the world?
And make no mistake, the question of the former governor running or not running for US president is definitely important to freedom loving people all over the world.
In the age of the internet, whether they vote or not, everyone is a little bit "American". And if they are honest, they admit it themselves. You don't need to take my word, though. Just read a bit of Mark Steyn and Richard Fernandez.
LMAO…the best joke is that the #palinemails joke just went right over the lame heads of the MSM. So so funny…& sorta sad.
Cold fusion featured in the LA Times in '89 before it was debunked. Environmentalists were aghast at the possibility of cheap clean energy:
“It’s like giving a machine gun to an idiot child.” – Paul Ehrlich (mentor of John Cook of SkepticalScience.com, author of "Climate Change Denial")
“Clean-burning, non-polluting, hydrogen-using bulldozers still could knock down trees or build housing developments on farmland.” – Paul Ciotti (LA Times)
“It gives some people the false hope that there are no limits to growth and no environmental price to be paid by having unlimited sources of energy.” – Jeremy Rifkin (NY Times)
“Many people assume that cheaper, more abundant energy will mean that mankind is better off, but there is no evidence for that.” – Laura Nader (sister of Ralph)
The most popular AGW supporting blogs are owned by PR firms financed by green energy speculators:
DeSmogBlog = green PR firm paid for by a $125 million online gambling site convicted money launderer who sells solar cells.
RealClimate = left wing PR firm behind the junk science link of vaccines to autism.
ClimateProgress = left wing think tank.
CLIMATEGATE 101: "Don't leave stuff lying around on ftp sites – you never know who is trawling them. The two MMs have been after the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone….Tom Wigley has sent me a worried email when he heard about it – thought people could ask him for his model code. He has retired officially from UEA so he can hide behind that." – Phil Jones
Here I present The Quick Glance Guide to Global Warming:
Denial: http://bit.ly/m6xySt
Oceans: http://oi53.tinypic.com/2i6os4y.jpg
Thermometers: http://oi52.tinypic.com/2agnous.jpg
Ice: http://oi52.tinypic.com/2upvlvm.jpg
Earth: http://oi56.tinypic.com/2reh021.jpg
Authority: http://oi52.tinypic.com/wlt4i8.jpg
Prophecy: http://oi52.tinypic.com/30bfktk.jpg
Psychopathy: http://oi52.tinypic.com/1zqu71i.jpg
Icon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmPzLzj-3XY
Thinker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92YenWfz0Y
Please excuse our excitable friend, NikFromNYC. He came here via Wattsupwiththat via Instapundit via jeannebodine above.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/12/emails-schmemails-its-only-harrassment-when-they-do-it/
Now that they've made it clear that they have an unhealthy obsession with Mrs. Palin, will the MSM seek therapy?
We wish!
Think we need to start referring to the msm as mwr……media without reality.