Most news organizations miss out on Palin email dump
Alex DeMarban |
Feb 23, 2012
The final dump of Sarah Palin emails must have landed with a resounding thud in Juneau on Thursday, with the media mob that once hung on her every word no where in sight as 17,000 emails were released by the state. Instead, it sounds like The Associated Press had the lonely job to itself. Was that because the media didn't hear about it? According to Bill Dedman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with msnbc.com, key media outlets that had been following delays related to the email release after another big dump last summer, but weren't notified that the emails would be available Thursday. Had he known, Dedman would have arranged to have someone in Juneau to pick up the emails. Some news outlets made the lack of attention on Thursday sound like the end of Sarah-mania as we know it, perhaps because she’s said she’s not running for president this year. A headline in the Atlantic Wire may have framed it most fittingly: "No one wants to read Sarah Palin's emails anymore," it blared. But the quiet day doesn't signify a lack of interest, said Dedman. Taken aback by the news, he said he learned today from a state spokeswoman that Alaska's former attorney general John Burns had sent an email Jan. 3 approving a release extension to Feb. 20 because the state was struggling to document so many emails. But the notification apparently didn't reach most intended recipients, including major news organizations such as his. "It seems as though some sort of snafu occurred," he said. "There's no reason to think there's a conspiracy. They handed them out to the AP, which is like giving them to the whole world." What state officials handed out is a CD, unlike last time, when journalists were given boxes containing 25,000 pages of emails. Dedman said he requested a CD be mailed his way and it should be arriving soon, apparently at no cost. The silence in the Alaska capital on Thursday comes in stark contrast to the frenzy last June, when journalists flocked to Juneau for the first big dump in what they hoped would be an illuminating peek into Palin’s political and personal secrets -- and foibles. And then they read the emails. And there wasn't much there. Today's story sounds much the same. Thursday's emails cover Palin's last 10 months in office before her stunning resignation in July 2009. The emails seem to paint a portrait of a passionate governor many Alaskans remembered, just like the first batch of emails, covering her time as governor through September 2008. She was on task, fighting for a trans-Alaska gas line and irked at the ethical complaints flowing her way. Of course, it's fair to note that email readers may never have the true picture, based on the large number of emails redacted for reasons such as attorney-client privilege and privacy. More will likely follow, but below are some highlights from today's dump, as reported by The Associated Press. • Palin emailed an aide to "push hard to get gasline tweet language today. We MUST give Alaskans their deserved updates on the project." The email to Katryn Morgan on June 4, 2009, came days before TransCanada Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. announced they would begin working together in hope of creating a gasline. • A series of emails from March 24, 2009, had Palin steaming over the ethics complaints filed against her. She wrote Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell: "These are the things that waste my time and money, and the state's time and money."
by Bixby | February 24, 2012 - 7:46pm
Wait a sec. The powers-that-be made everyone pick up 25,000 pages last time, but suddenly they've discovered this radical new technology known as the CD and the U.S. Postal Service? I'd like to hear an explanation for THAT. Because otherwise it sounds like they were being jerks just to be jerks.
by NorthStar | February 24, 2012 - 6:05pm
She cares too much about what people think about her, and that became her downfall. Obviously she didn't know what she was getting into, and when the going got tough, she quit, just adding to her resume of quitting. She obviously hasn't learned anything between then and now.
by Mae | February 24, 2012 - 6:00pm
With all the whine about ethics complaints, you'd think Palin would of learned a thing or two... Like wearing gear that advertises her husbands irondog sponsorship... As for her whinning about how the attacks on her family is bad... Well that comes with territory of who she thinks she is... then there was that tidbit statement at the end of a press conference after returning from the campaign trail... "Bristol is available." Face it, the woman couldn't handle the job of Gov... let alone have the knowledge base to run for vice president.
by DangerouslyLive | February 24, 2012 - 5:17pm
The Media knows that anything of any consequence has been deleted or redacted or whatever by the Parnel camp. The whole thing was a waste of time.
by caseyhardy | February 24, 2012 - 3:41am
News organizations "missed out" on purpose, because there was no dirt to dig. Palin e-mails prove that Sarah was a competent & concerned, energetic & efficient, brilliant & beautiful Governor who battled corruption, balanced the budget, and presented a positive picture of her beloved Alaska.
by Archy Bunka | February 27, 2012 - 4:10pm
"Brilliant" candidates know the U.S. Constitution, and can comment on it verbatim. "Brilliant" candidates know the name of at least one newspaper in Alaska. "Brilliant" candidates don't blame their staff when they can't answer the slow pitch softball questions Katie Couric tossed at Sarah that day.
by thulefoth | February 25, 2012 - 11:26am
That's what it looks like, alright. So-called journalism realizes it is not in their interest to draw attention to the fact that Sarah Palin is a strong, savvy, successful, Conservative leaning female who has and continues to perform at very high levels. Most 'normal' people have no trouble seeing that news organization would rather avoid looking at any positive facts/truth, when it comes to Palin, and that that is exactly what they are (not) doing with the new batch of e-mails.
by Steve L | February 24, 2012 - 1:42am
The lambstream media ignored Sarah, she must be livid!
by Akbull | February 23, 2012 - 9:22pm
So she didn't a nervous breakdown like the movie portrait, must have been just another Lame Stream Liberal Media hatchet job! |













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