How to Generate Bad Press - Palin by Comparison

Sarah Palin is worth studying because she has become a textbook case of how to guarantee bad press for yourself. Here is what she teaches us in her latest statements:

1. Be unprepared, then claim ambush media.
2. Use the media for your purposes, then complain when you are covered by the same said media.
3. Confuse bloggers with the mainstream media.
4. Raise the bogeymen of sexism and classism when you screw up.
   

Let's look at her claims and analyze them.

HER CLAIM: Palin says that the media's reporting on her family was "very scary."

FACT: She and the Republican Party were the ones who claimed the moral high ground for carrying a baby known to have Down syndrome to full term. Also, she was the one who shamelessly exploited her son's honorable service in Iraq when it suited her. Yet later, she didn't want her family "exploited" by the media. Where I come from, this is called "having it both ways."

HER CLAIM: The media are giving Caroline Kennedy more sympathetic treatment that she, Palin, received.

FACT: Kennedy is not even a candidate, but she is indeed being scrutinized by the media as she asks for an appointment to the U.S. Senate to take Hillary Clinton's seat. Both her qualifications for the U.S. Senate and her ability to communicate (or inability) are being questioned every bit as much as Palin's were. As a result of this coverage, it is dubious as to whether or not Kennedy will assume Sen. Clinton's seat. Palin faced no such barrier prior to her candidacy; she was nominated to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

HER CLAIM: Governor Palin insulted Katie Couric over their CBS interview. Palin: "Katie, you're not the center of everyone's universe."

FACT: No one put a gun to Palin's head to force her to do that interview, and Couric was totally courteous to her. Afterwards, Couric made no particular claim or boast about the interview, which spoke for itself. All Couric asked was, "What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this?" It was a very simple question for which Palin was unprepared, which made her look incurious and uninformed. Quite frankly, it also made her look as though she couldn't think quickly.

HER CLAIM: The mainstream media asserted that Palin's daughter, Bristol, was the real mother of infant Trig.

FACT: Bloggers brought out this news. The assertion was reported in the so-call mainstream media only after John McCain's campaign revealed the pregnancy of Palin's daughter.

HER CLAIM: Palin objected to reports that Bristol's fiance, Levi Johnston, was a high school dropout.

FACT: Palin says that Johnston is taking a high school correspondence course. If that's the case, and he is not attending classes, then he IS a high school dropout!

HER CLAIM: Palin thought that Tina Fey's characterization of her was unfair. She pointedly cited Fey saying, "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers." Palin's said that it "kills" her when someone "attacks a kid" like that.

FACT: Will someone please buy her DVDs of past Saturday Night Live programs? Perhaps she will understand that political satire is not uniquely aimed at her when she sees how the cast and writers skewered both Clintons, both Presidents Bush, Senator Bob Dole... the list goes on. She also conveniently overlooks this quote from producer Lorne Michaels, which was very complimentary: "I think Palin will continue to be underestimated for a while. I watched the way she connected with people, and she's powerful. Her politics aren't my politics. But you can see that she's a very powerful, very disciplined, incredibly gracious woman. This was her first time out and she's had a huge impact. People connect to her."

This post has nothing to do with Palin's qualifications for office. It is about he spectacularly bad judgements when appearing before the media, which included not being prepared, being hypocritical about coverage of her family, and apparently being capable of giving a good speech only when she had a TelePrompTer. Her protestations show the dangers of taking on the media after you have been portrayed badly, whether or not it was deserved. Newspapers have buckets of ink and electronic media have all the air time they want. They can always have the last word, so you need to get it right the first time.