A.P. Throws Bogus Headline on Palin to see if it Sticks (update)

- By Thomas Lamb

Palin book tour host to foreign press: stay away

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — She's no longer the chief executive of Alaska, but Sarah Palin should still be called "governor." And in English only, please.

That was the message sent out by officials at the Mall of America this week, who told reporters planning to cover the Minneapolis-area stop on Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour they must address the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate by her former title. The guidelines also banned foreign reporters, allowing "only English speaking press."

Mall officials said the guidelines were a mistake, and apologized Wednesday to Palin for the mix up, which they called "an internal miscommunication" that was "inadvertently distributed."

"That should never have been in any kind of press release," said Tina Andreadis, a publicist for publisher HarperCollins in New York, who added foreign reporters would be welcome at Palin's Mall of America stop.

"That's not the message the governor wants to send out," she said.

Drum roll please.....................................................................

A.P throws their spit-ball in the story...

The guidelines were likely to be mostly irrelevant either way. Palin hasn't been speaking to most reporters — either local or from abroad — during her tightly controlled, stay-on-message book tour.

So why and who would put out such a press release when Palin while on the tour hasn't been speaking to reporters.....

Who in the hell is putting this type of information out? That's not Palin's style to do that.

A.P. continues to throw spit-balls and miss.

Update:

The Star-Tribune has a story on this A.P. story.

MOA apologizes to Palin

Jasper said the internal notes were sent to one AP reporter who had contacted the mall about the guidelines for Palin's visit from noon to 4 p.m. Monday for her memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life."

Using "Governor" in reference to Palin was a note to mall staffers "as a sign of respect," Jasper said.

[...]

Jasper didn't have a copy Wednesday night of what was sent out and didn't say what else was included.

Maybe the A.P. has a copy of the "internal notes"? That would make sense wouldn't it?

Mall staff were instructed by the MOA to call Palin "Governor" -- A very different situation than what was reported by the AP:

Mo. — She's no longer the chief executive of Alaska, but Sarah Palin should still be called "governor." And in English only, please.

That was the message sent out by officials at the Mall of America this week, who told reporters planning to cover the Minneapolis-area stop on Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour they must address the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate by her former title. The guidelines also banned foreign reporters, allowing "only English speaking press."

(Emphasis mine)

Big difference between telling reporters what to say, then instructing how your own staff should address Palin...

The A.P. continues on their anti-Palin roll.

- Tom