Isn't Jessica Yellin mocking her own network for incessantly reporting
on Sarah Palin's bus tour? The CNN correspondent called the coverage of
the tour "a media low-point" on CNN Tuesday, although her own network
made mention of tour almost every hour Monday from 6 a.m. EDT through 11
p.m. EDT - and then again Tuesday from 6 a.m. EDT through 1 p.m. EDT.
The continuous coverage included nine live reports from Gettysburg, one
of the tour stops, by correspondent Jim Acosta - and a live appearance
there by anchor John King Monday afternoon. John King, USA - King's 7
p.m. EDT weeknight show - was broadcast from Gettysburg, and then King later was guest-host of Anderson Cooper 360 at the same site.
[Click here for audio [1]. Video below.]
Yellin, who appeared on CNN during the 3 p.m. EDT hour, abruptly made
it clear that her main problem was with media coverage of the tour more
than the tour itself. When asked what she thought about the tour, Yellin
answered "What I make of the coverage of this Palin bus tour - not the
tour, but the coverage of it - is a media low-point."
"Chasing around someone who, so far, is not running for president, and
who has been playing the kind of 'tease the media' games that only movie
stars and reality stars play is kind of a media low-point," Yellin
lectured the press.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on May 31 at 3:16 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
BROOKE BALDWIN: But Sarah Palin wants us all to know, folks, this is not a campaign bus, and this is actually some sort of - I don't know, family vacation? Jessica Yellin, what do you make of this?
JESSICA YELLIN: What I make of the coverage of this Palin bus tour - not the tour, but the coverage of it - is a media low-point. Chasing around someone who, so far, is not running for president, and who has been playing the kind of "tease the media" games that only movie stars and reality stars play is kind of a media low-point.
But - but - she has a huge following among some tea party activists who feel very alienated from the system. And I talked to one top Republican strategist today who said that actually this coverage of Palin right now is helpful to the current crop of presidential candidates on the Right, because the tea party feels that with Palin out there, someone's speaking for the tea party. And if Palin and Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who as expected will get in the race, if those two women weren't out there, then the tea party might be raising noise and getting insistent that this field of candidates doesn't speak for them. So at least this attention to Palin is making some activists happy, but I'll tell ya, I know for a fact it's leaving some other candidates who are running for president wondering why she's getting all that coverage, and we're not giving all that much attention to some other candidates who are actually running for president, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Point duly noted, Ms. Yellin. Thank you very much.
- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center.