• That’s one way to avoid talking to people. At a recent book-signing in Iowa, the presidential aspirant went out of her way to avoid CNN’s questions – with her handlers literally drowning them out with music. Which is kinda sad/hilarious. If Palin can’t handle being asked questions by the lamestream media, how will she ever be president, a job which requires more media scrutiny than any other in the free world? We may never know. source

• YES CNN is projecting it, which is kind of a big deal source

• » What that means: That means CNN is projecting a bloodbath, and that the Democrats will lose at least fifty House seats. How bad will the bloodletting be? Let’s find out.

• $20 million cost, but goddamn, that was some good TV

• » So, who pays the bill? Well, you would assume the mining company that owned the mine, San Esteban Primera, but they’re nearly broke. So state-owned company Codelco has owned the effort, paying $15 million of the total cost, with private firms paying the rest. Expect lawsuits and criminal charges.

And here are the big winners:

• 3.4 million number of viewers CNN got in the first hour of the rescue
• 7 million number of viewers Fox News got in the final hour of the mining escapade

• 4M pageviews per minute on news sites at the peak of the mining incident
• $7,000 worth of sunglasses given away to the miners by Oakley
• $41Mthe amount of free advertising Oakley got in the process source

• Dear Jon Stewart: Thank you for proving our point that this whole story has basically been kibble for cable news channels.

• hm… Lou Dobbs basically built his career with CNN on his anger over immigration issues.
• hmm… Dobbs, who dramatically quit his job last year, may be planning an electoral run soon.
• hmmm…
  The Nation found out that he has a bunch of illegal workers on his property. Uh-oh. source

• See that look on Eliot Spitzer’s face? It’s the look of a guy who had a really crappy night. Sure he’s smiling, but that’s because he’s contractually obligated to smile. He knows that if this doesn’t work, he doesn’t have much else to fall back on. (Kathleen Parker should be good no matter what happens, honestly.) Too bad the first-day ratings don’t support his long-term future. The show reached 457,000 last night, far behind every other news channel. Even Nancy Grace beat “Parker Spitzer.” To put this into perspective, the last big premiere at CNN’s 8 p.m. slot, Campbell Brown, drew three times those ratings. Ouch. Good luck, bro. source

• look, CNN’s covering it!Gotta love Howard Kurtz’s comment at the beginning here, mentioning how he had to tear up his programming plans to cover Rick Sanchez’s firing from CNN. Kurtz goes over the Rick’s history with the network, including that bit where our boy got tased.
• Mr. Twitter himselfOK, while the often-showy Sanchez probably made a lot of mistakes on the air at CNN, one really good thing he did was basically own Twitter before any other major news personality tried. Here, he discusses his experience hosting the tweet-obsessed 2009 Shorty Awards.
• Behind the scenesEver wonder how “Rick’s List” was made? Neither did we. But in case you were wondering how the low-rated CNN show was created, here’s a clip. As you can see, Rick wears a chef’s hat and says, “I’m a big guy. I can take it.” If that were true, he wouldn’t be in this mess.

• Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.
• A statement from CNN • Responding to Rick Sanchez saying that Jon Stewart is a bigot and suggesting that CNN is run by Jews by firing him. He made those comments yesterday on CNN contributor Pete Dominick’s radio show. You think his Twitter followers are gonna save him now? By the way, his timing is pitch-perfect. His 8 p.m. show is going off the air to be replaced by a less-controversial figure: Eliot Spitzer (and, OK, Kathleen Parker). CNN will have to fill out Sanchez’s Twitter-infused 3 p.m. slot, though. Maybe the guy can get a job causing the Elian Gonzalez crisis in Miami again. source

• I never intended to become part of the story. But things suddenly took a very strange turn.
• CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau • On nearly getting punked by @(&#(&!) (@&!(!( James O’Keefe. O’Keefe apparently wanted to meet the reporter, alone, and pretend to hit on her in an overtly sexual way in a room complete with props (“condom jar, dildos, posters and paintings of naked women, fuzzy handcuffs”), then tape the whole thing for a hit piece. Boudreau was doing a piece on O’Keefe and other conservative activists, by the way. Is it us, or did this guy get lucky once (with completely inaccurate information) and is now just a piece of scum on the American culture? Seriously, James. Go away. source