SALON

Friday, Apr 2, 2010 11:01 AM UTC

Sarah Palin is better than her new Fox News show

Former Alaska governor debuts as talk show host in program featuring warmed-over interviews conducted by others

By

Topics: Sarah Palin, War Room, Fox News,

Sarah Palin is better than her new Fox News showFormer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hosts "Real American Stories" on Fox News.

On Thursday night, when Sarah Palin made her debut as the host of Fox News’ “Real American Stories,” one thing was clear: Fox really screwed the former governor of Alaska. Or maybe she did it to herself.

A show that actually involved Palin going out and interviewing the people profiled on “Real American Stories” might well prove to be pretty good television. As an interview subject, Palin’s flubbed more than her fair share of opportunities. But she does have a considerable personal magnetism, a skill with people similar to former President Clinton’s — there’s a reason she’s gotten as far in politics as she has, and that she’s inspired such a devoted following — and watching her use it as an interviewer could be interesting.

Instead, Palin came in for some embarrassment even before the show aired, when one of the marquee guests Fox announced, rapper LL Cool J, objected to his inclusion as the interview had been conducted by someone else back in 2008. Fox pulled the segment, but Thursday’s broadcast made clear that it wasn’t an isolated problem.

The show reduces the former governor to mediocre talk show host. Her role was merely to provide poorly done narration for recycled material and — clad in heels that seemed impossibly high — have awkward post-segment conversations with people tangentially related to the stories for which she’d provided a voice over.

Whoever made the decision to have the show work this way didn’t just do a disservice to Fox and to Palin as host. They also hurt her as a politician. A format like this one only contributes to the image Palin has earned for herself as lightweight, uninterested in the hard work.

If Palin and Fox want to keep this show going, they need to get her out interviewing people. Or maybe she should be sitting on a couch with them for an Oprah-style heart-to-heart. The current format does no one any favors.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 45 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
166 points167 points | 6 comments
vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the persecuted late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
122 points123 points | comment
vote
Obstruction will ruin the GOP: Playing politics and abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster
39 points40 points | 8 comments
vote
With the help of Photoshop, artist Yao Lu has made shanshui — traditional ink paintings — of China's landfills
13 points14 points | comment
vote
Obstruction Will Ruin GOP - Playing politics & abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster
15 points16 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations