Palin Spars with Local Paper

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin criticized the Anchorage Daily News’ coverage of her family in an email posted on the paper’s website Monday night.

The email, sent by Palin last week, comes under the subject line “more ‘mistakes’?”

“Please, say it ain’t so: did you really allow a story to run in your paper today claiming Levi Johnston is a high school drop out? Did I read that right?” Palin asks at the beginning of the email. “And did you really print a story last week suggesting I had any connection with Sherry Johnston's activities in the past six months or so and you won't correct the story? Did I read that right?”

“And is your paper really still pursuing the sensational lie that I am not Trig's mother?” she continues. “Is it true you have a reporter still bothering my state office, my very busy doctor (who's already set the record straight for you), and the school district, in pursuit of your ridiculous conspiracy? And, oh, I could go on...”

Pat Dougherty, the editor of the Anchorage Daily News, defended his paper in a response posted on the paper’s site.

Dougherty told Palin the story about Levi Johnston came from the Associated Press, which bases the information on an interview the news organization had with the teenager during the campaign.

The editor also insisted that coverage of the arrest of Johnston’s mother on drug charges did not connect Palin to the charges and that the paper is still pursuing information about Trig’s birth with the intent of knocking down the frequently repeated rumor.

“Perhaps after reading this you will conclude that the facts are not exactly as you thought, or that there was more to these issues than you knew,” Dougherty wrote to Palin. “I hope you see that we have tried hard to practice sound journalism. We may have trusted the accuracy of the AP too much, but I won’t know that for sure until you confirm that Levi will graduate from high school.”

According to the paper, Palin has not responded.

Copyright POLIT - Politico
Contact Us