Skip to main content
  • CNSNews.com
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • TimesWatch
  • Take Action!

Join Us @:
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Kindle

Tell the Truth campaign logo
NewsBusters.org logo

May 27, 2012
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • RSS

Hot Topics

  • Anti-religious Bias in the Media
  • Same-sex Marriage
  • 2012 Presidential Race
Home » Blogs » Warner Todd Huston's blog
  • Krugman: Scientists Should Falsely Predict Alien Invasion So Government Will Spend More Money
  • Ashley Judd to NBC: Republicans Are 'Really Dumb,' Obama Has 'Flowered'
  • Bozell Column: Canada's 'Scientific' Museum of Smut
  • CBS: 'Troubling Signs' For Obama, Like Bush in '92, But President 'Cannot Control' Economy
  • On and On It Goes: Networks Cover 'Predator Priests' As They Stay Silent on Catholic Liberty Lawsuits
  • NBC's Williams Touts L.A. Banning Plastic Bags As Effort to Keep Them 'Out of the Natural World'
  • Bozell, Carlson Note Media's Silence on Obama Supporter's Bribe to Hush Rev. Wright
  • Very Annoyed Matthews Rips ‘Horse’s Ass Right-Wingers’ Who Cite ‘Thrill Up My Leg,’ Calls C-SPAN Host a ‘Jackass’

Media Can't Understand Why Palin's Still Popular Internet Search

By Warner Todd Huston | December 02, 2008 | 05:00

Change font size:  A |  A

This particular Palin report is funny for it's cluelessness, but a spokesman for the Internet search engine company Lycos is astounded that people are still interested enough in Governor Sarah Palin to put her name in the search field of an Internet search engine like Lycos or Google. After all, we have Obama, now, the spokesman says. Why do we need Palin info still?

The quotes from Kathy O’Reilly, a spokeswoman for Lycos, were reported by Politico last week and goes to show that the appeal of Sarah Palin is still little understood in many quarters.

Sarah Palin has stayed in the list of the top 5 Internet searches since she was chosen as John McCain's running mate in October.

The scope of the GOP ticket’s loss -- and the role her critics assigned to her in that defeat -- hasn't cooled interest in Palin. She ranked as the No. 2 top news search at Ask.com this week and No. 2 (after Obama) among newsmakers on the AOL 2008 year-end hottest searches list, and she occupied two slots on Politico's list of the site's 10 most searched terms. Palin also ranked fourth among Yahoo searches, behind "Black Friday," a Czech model and a contestant on the hit television show "Dancing with the Stars." She was the only politician on the Yahoo top 20 list.

To Lycos spokesman O'Reilly, though, it's all a mystery.

"People are still searching for her in record numbers," said Kathy O’Reilly, a spokeswoman for Lycos. "How bizarre is that? Obama is the president-elect after the most historic election of all time and you'd think he would be dominating search activity and he only now is going ahead of her."

"It's astounding that someone who should have faded into the background after the election is not only making headlines but being searched for in record numbers online," said O'Reilly. "People still have a fixation with her, for whatever the reason."

Politico also makes a mistake that is ubiquitous in the media.

The polarizing role she played in the presidential campaign may also be driving the enduring fascination with all things Palin.

Who says she was "polarizing"? The media does. Again this is a use of false authority. Since they say she is "polarizing" she is. But, it isn't really because of what she did, what she said or how she campaigned that was really "polarizing." This claim of polarization is the determination of the anti-Republican, anti-conservative media and they all echo it dutifully. Just as the media proclaimed the war in Iraq lost -- until it was won -- just as they proclaimed John McCain's campaign finished several times before he actually won the nomination, and just as the press universally assumes the "fact" of global warming, the media relies on its false authority to proclaim the "truth" of a situation and then they all echo the claim in unison. Even when proven wrong, they simply move on to proclaim the next "truth" and promulgate that as an authorized determination that defies debate.

Still, it is amusing that this Lycos woman and Politico just don't understand why anyone would be interested in Sarah Palin. After all, they have all determined that she is finished, right? And we have The One to save us. So, who needs her?

(Photo credit: FoxNews.com)

Share this
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • 2008 Presidential
  • Media Bias Debate
  • Sarah Palin
  • Politico
  • Journalistic Issues
  • Warner Todd Huston's blog
  • Login to post comments
  • Printer-friendly version
Donate to NewsBusters

  • 'This is the Supreme Court, not middle school' (Power Line)
  • The Neal Boortz Faux Commencement Speech (Nealz Nuse)
  • Is liberalism dead? (Roger L. Simon)
  • The media's next move on same-sex marriage (Get Religion)
  • Senate Dems pay women staffers less than male staffers (Washington Free Beacon)
  • Left targeting Chief Justice Roberts in attempt to save ObamaCare (IBD)
  • Walker's chance of defeating Wisc. recall looking great (Ace of Spades)

Donate to NewsBusters Today!

This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn't support. Sign up here instead

User Shortcuts

Log in

  • My account
  • My buddylist
  • Log in to check messages
  • RSS feed
  • About NB
  • Contact us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise on NB
Scott Rasmussen
Rasmussen Column: 'Austerity' Talk Is Just Political Cover for More Government Spending
Walter E. Williams's picture
Walter E. Williams
Walter Williams Column: Should Black People Tolerate This?
Cal Thomas's picture
Cal Thomas
Cal Thomas Column: The Media's Religion Deficit
Chuck Norris's picture
Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris Column: IRS Gives Billions in Tax Refunds to Illegals
Michelle Malkin's picture
Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin Column: How the Gay-Marriage Mafia Slimed Manny Pacquiao
More >

RSS FeedAmazon KindleFacebookTwitter

Recent comments

  • "It shows promise that one
    2 min 8 sec ago
  • LOL!
    9 min 46 sec ago
  • ABC, CBS, and NBC.....
    14 min 59 sec ago
  • Real Marriage.
    22 min 19 sec ago
  • when the cameras aren't rolling...
    23 min 23 sec ago
More >

More Like Farcebook
more cartoons
  • NYT Media Reporter Touts PBS, MSNBC's 'Up,' Brian Williams
  • Howard Stern Hasn't Been 'King of Prime Time'
  • All Purpose Weekend Open Thread
  • Female GOP House Members Are 'Literally Battered Women,' Democrat Tells Ed Schultz
  • NPR Celebrates Transgender Olympics Hopeful as Hammer-Throwing 'Jackie Robinson'
More >
NewsBusters

Executive Editor
Matthew Sheffield

Editor at Large
Brent Baker

Senior Editors
Tim Graham
Rich Noyes

Managing Editor
Ken Shepherd

Associate Editor
Noel Sheppard

Contributing Editors
Tom Blumer
Geoffrey Dickens
Dan Gainor
David Limbaugh
Lachlan Markay
Mithridate Ombud
Clay Waters
Scott Whitlock

Senior Contributor
Mark Finkelstein

Contributing Writers
Matthew Balan
Michael M. Bates
Erin R. Brown
Jack Coleman
Kyle Drennen
Douglas Ernst
P. J. Gladnick
Stephen Gutowski
Matt Hadro
D. S. Hube
Kathleen McKinley
Dave Pierre
Amy Ridenour
Julia A. Seymour
Terry Trippany
Rusty Weiss
Brad Wilmouth

Publisher
Brent Bozell

Site Design
Dialog New Media

 

  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • rss
  • CNSNews
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • Take Action!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Amazon Kindle
  • Advertise
  • Jobs

Copyright © 2005-2012 NewsBusters. Terms of Use.