The Hollywood Reporter took it upon themselves to count how many times each cabler spoke about Sarah Palin last year. The network that ran Palin segments a whopping 512 times in 2010 was Fox News MSNBC.
Since Keith Olbermann’s departure, the numbers will go down significantly, because the MSNBC host mentioned the mama grizzly 179 times last year on “Countdown.”
However, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews topped Olbermann with 184 times. Rachel Maddow trailed behind with 99 mentions.
Documentary filmmaker John Ziegler explained to THR the appeal of the media’s addiction with Palin:
“Take Sarah Palin, add guests, some hatred, and mix. No other topic can replace her … that would require actual reporting.”
What about Fox News — the network who hired Palin as a contributor a year ago?
After hiring Palin last January, it’s not like Fox News hasn’t been mentioning her at all. “On the Record with Greta van Sustren” came in at 148 Palin mentions, “Hannity” mentioned her 145 times, and “The O’Reilly Factor” mentioned her 108 times.
CNN — trying to wean themselves off of Palin — took up the rear with only 128 mentions on “Anderson Cooper 360” and 123 mentions on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”