WASHINGTON -- Former Governor Sarah Palin launched a broadside attack on the news media Sunday, charging the industry with wholesale corruption in support of liberals and insisting that a local CBS affiliate was staffed with "corrupt bastards."
Coming to the defense of her preferred Senatorial candidate, Joe Miller, Palin aired some explosive accusations aimed at the fourth estate. Reporters, she said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, had been caught on tape trying to find a child molester in the crowd at a Miller rally -- or, similarly, hoping to witness a bit of violence among the attendees -- in hopes of making the Tea Party candidate look bad.
Just last night it was revealed that, at the rally I had for Joe Miller on Thursday, it was revealed and we have the tape that proves it, that the CBS reporters, the affiliate in Alaska, conspired to make up stories about Joe Miller. We have the tape, Chris. I can't wait until it busts out all over the nation to show what it is that we, kind of what I put up with for two years now with the media, but what Joe Miller is faced with, in dealing with someone who feels, Lisa Murkowski, so entitled to seat that she and some of her people including some complicits in the media will do anything, they will stop at nothing.
[snip]
I'm saying that we have it on tape, the CBS reporters in the affiliate up there in Alaska are on tape saying let's find a child molester in the crowd as a supporter for Joe Miller, let's blast that. Let's concoct a Ron Paul moment there let's find any kind of chaos so that we can tweet an alert and say, 'oohh there's chaos, Joe Miller got punched.' That's sick. Those are corrupt bastards.
In all, Palin uttered the word corrupt or corruption in relation to the media three separate times on Sunday. In addition to the videotape she says she will reveal, she charged the Murkowksi campaign with orchestrating the firing of an Alaska conservative talk show host who didn't support her candidacy. In actuality, the host was fired for trying to gin up dozens of write-in bids for the Senate seat, a ploy for chaos that would hurt Murkowksi but also was un-welcomed by the host station.
"[S]tuff like that," said Palin, "it is corrupt. It's frustrating. It's why Americans are saying no more, enough is enough. We're going to turn this around. We are going to fight corruption in the media; we're going to fight corruption in politics."
UPDATE: This appears to be the incident to which Palin was referring when she discussed the CBS affiliate conspiring against Miller's campaign. There is a transcript and audio of a supposed phone call made by the reporter. But there is no confirmation about the call's sincerity.
UPDATE: David Brock, CEO of progressive media watchdog group Media Matters, responds:
Sarah Palin has made serious accusations of journalistic malfeasance. Either Palin accurately described the tapes, or she did not. America's news consumers need to know the truth about these serious accusations. The public in Alaska needs to know the truth so they are fully and correctly informed before they cast their ballots Tuesday. Palin has a responsibility to release the full, unedited tapes publicly and to all media.
UPDATE: A spokesperson from CBS emails out the following statement
KTVA News is owned by the Alaska Broadcasting Co., not CBS. No CBS staffers were involved and CBS has no knowledge of and no comment on these allegations.
Meanwhile, Greg Sargent at The Plum Line reports that KTVA says the audio recording is legitimate but taken entirely out of context.