This really irritates me

[dextertangocci]

"Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant" is what the "LIVE BREAKING NEWS" headline was on CNN's homepage earlier.

Do they not have ANYTHING better to write about than writing about family members of US presidential candidates? What is the point of this article? To try and make McCain look bad? Just because everyone is in love with Obama, it doesn't mean that McCain has to be (indirectly) slated.

Article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.daughter/index.html

[gibbz]

While I am an independent who will be voting for Obama, this kind of crap annoys me as well. People like to say that the majority of American's shouldn't vote because they are uninformed. Well no wonder, look at at the ***** that the "news" organizations feed people. These people, like CNN and others, are in the business of creating news, not reporting it. I wish we could focus on policies of the candidates instead of this crap.

They also posted this crap as well.... who cares?
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/01/palins-husband-has-dwi-arrest/

[pianoman]

regardless of one's political affiliation, this kind of "news" does not deserve to be considered "breaking" today (or any other day, arguably). what constitutes breaking news today are the effects of hurricane gustav, both locally (in LA especially, but also in other gulf states) and nationally (i.e., with respect to the Republican Convention).

[Counterfit]

This all relates to the claims (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/31/145838/319/386/581332) that Trig Palin is not Sarah's 5th child, but Bristol's first.

[jaw04005]

I too find the the label of "Breaking News" disturbing. That's a personal issue for the Pallin family, and holds no relevance to the 2008 election.

Obama agrees:

“I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics,” the Democrat said forcefully. “It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he continued.

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/01/obama-says-palin-pregnancy-off-limits/

[Tosser]

I too find the the label of "Breaking News" disturbing. That's a personal issue for the Pallin family, and holds no relevance to the 2008 election.


McCain and company released this news themselves.
The idea is that the speculation that the child of Palin in reality being her grand child cannot be true, as her 17 year old daughter is five months pregnant, so the rumoured grand child has to be Palins own, not her daughter's.
That's the idea of the press release. It's damage control of some sorts (although opinions may differ as to how intelligent this damage control is, ha ha)

[stoich]

I also will be voting for obama. But I will agree with the rest of you. This has no relevance to the election. It is ridiculous the things the media will put out there just to get attention. Makes me sick

[jessica.]

You're going to find that these days even in the most political forums the news will sway towards reporting as though this is People Magazine to appeal to the more gossipy crowds. Sad but true.

Is this important? Not at all, not even when compared to something far more important like Gustav or the likes.

[BoyBach]

"Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant" is what the "LIVE BREAKING NEWS" headline was on CNN's homepage earlier.

Do they not have ANYTHING better to write about...


That's the problem with the 24 hour rolling news coverage. They must have something - anything! - new to report to keep the advertisement revenues coming in.

[JML42691]

I understand that this is news that some people might find a reason to judge upon Sarah Palin as being an improper pick for VP (I for one do not find it to be), but this is in no way anything that should be breaking news on CNN. CNN should be ashamed of themselves for running this story as "Breaking News," this is the subject of Palin's family and their privacy should be respected. It wasn't a report that came out from some investigator that discovered this, it was a release from the Palin family through the McCain/Palin campaign. And there is not a whole lot that her family could have done in this case, most cases that result in teenage pregnancy are from the child disobeying the parents, or the child lying to prevent the parents from finding out about it. Palin should almost be praised for her actions in supporting of her daughter having the baby instead of having an abortion, granted people might not look upon the issue as praiseworthy for her daughter getting pregnant, but she did take the step to support life in this case.

In the end I am completely upset at CNN for running this as "Breaking News," CNN should be ashamed of themselves.

[kfordham281]

That's the problem with the 24 hour rolling news coverage. They must have something - anything! - new to report to keep the advertisement revenues coming in.

Stuff that passes for "news" these days is crap. Who gives a rats *** about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and their lifestyles. Or some celebrity is pregnant yet again...or some celebrity adopted yet another child.... Ok enough ranting I guess.

[zap2]

? To try and make McCain look bad? Just because everyone is in love with Obama, it doesn't mean that McCain has to be (indirectly) slated.


No, its not. The media gives Obama crap as well. Its how the flawed system works.


I do agree that we shouldn't be focusing on this, because its pointless. The election is about our country, and what the Prez and VP will do for it. The media could be reporting about her terrible stances on the issues. Even Obama said he wanted this not to be brought up. However The day Biden and her debate, its gonna be rough for her!

[Tosser]

I understand that this is news that some people might find a reason to judge upon Sarah Palin as being an improper pick for VP (I for one do not find it to be), but this is in no way anything that should be breaking news on CNN. CNN should be ashamed of themselves for running this story as "Breaking News," this is the subject of Palin's family and their privacy should be respected.
Sheesh! Do you people not get that this pseudo news only broke because the Palin/McCain office released a press release?
But I see you KNOW that, yet you consider this to be the fault of the media!?
FFS.

[JML42691]

Sheesh! Do you people not get that this pseudo news only broke because the Palin/McCain office released a press release?
But I see you KNOW that, yet you consider this to be the fault of the media!?
FFS.
No, I fault the media for labeling this story as breaking news, and digging so deep into it. I completely understand that it was the campaign that released the story, but it was 100% CNN's fault for labeling this story as "Breaking News" on a national level, and for making the happenings of a family the concern of the general public. The campaign only put it out there to show that they are not hiding anything, and to put a halt to the rumors that Trig (sp?) was in fact Palin's baby and not her daughter's, they did not release this story for the purpose of it being shoved into the living rooms of all Americans that night, but something that would be eventually realized and respected.

I understand that it was her family and the campaign that released the story, but they were not the ones who thought that it was worthy of "Breaking News" of Nationwide concern.

[Tosser]

JML, I see you fell for the damage control-spin …

No, I fault the media for labeling this story as breaking news, and digging so deep into it.
Ah, yes, a conservative VP candidate who has made a point of the notion of "no sex before marriage" has published a press release stating her 17-yo daughter is pregnant isn't news at all :rolleyes:

You realise that it's such a big news story that we're even covering it here in Europe, right?

I completely understand that it was the campaign that released the story, but it was 100% CNN's fault for labeling this story as "Breaking News" on a national level, and for making the happenings of a family the concern of the general public.
If you want us for the wedding, we'll be there for the divorce as well.
I'm sorry, but she opened that can of worms herself.

The campaign only put it out there to show that they are not hiding anything, and to put a halt to the rumors that Trig (sp?) was in fact Palin's baby and not her daughter's, they did not release this story for the purpose of it being shoved into the living rooms of all Americans that night, but something that would be eventually realized and respected.
No, we all realise that the only reason the Palins put it out now was to do damage control in the lee of Gustav. Unfortunately for the Palins and McCain-campaign, nature really isn't to be trusted, so it didn't work out like they had hoped.



I understand that it was her family and the campaign that released the story, but they were not the ones who thought that it was worthy of "Breaking News" of Nationwide concern.

Again, it's a worldwide story for a reason. You can't claim this to be a "personal story that has no merit in the media", when the Palins themselves issued the release in lee of Gustav.

Tough luck, but that strategy went to hell when Gustav hit the breakwaters but didn't break much …

[Scepticalscribe]

Agree with virtually all of the posts on this; it should not be treated as "breaking" (or any other) news, and far more pressing matters (policies of the respective candidates, world affairs, Gustav, Georgia, etc.) should be given the attention they deserve.

Worse, by trivialising news, and viewing the personal space and private lives of those in public life as fair game, the media demeans itself and gives ammunition to those who believe that freedom of the press to ask questions, and investigate matters, should be further curtailed.

Cheers and good luck

[megfilmworks]

In the end I am completely upset at CNN for running this as "Breaking News," CNN should be ashamed of themselves.Not just CNN but;
LATIMES
NYTIMES
LONDON TIMES
BBC ONLINE
WASHINGTON POST, etc, etc, etc
It's called a press release. (from the McCLueless campaign)

I guess some people are interested in anyone who may be the most powerful person in the world. Imagine that.

[whooleytoo]

To be honest, if it were a daughter of McCain, Obama or Biden it probably would scarcely make the news. It's only because of Palin's views on sex education and family values that it became newsworthy.

That said, the girl deserves her privacy just as much as anyone else.

[dextertangocci]

I guess some people are interested in anyone who may be the most powerful person in the world. Imagine that.

It's got nothing to do with "the most powerful person in the world," it's about a vice presidential candidate's daughter:confused::rolleyes:

[megfilmworks]

Palin is running on a platform of:

Abstinence for birth control
Outlaw abortion (even for rape and incest)
Teach Creationism in public schools
And other extreme Christian right political desires.

How she and her family function will be discussed. This is not new in a Presidential race in the US.
Especially a race that is so important and hotly contested. Everyone knew this would be discussed.
Why do you think they released the info during a hurricane?

Blaming CNN for passing on a McCain press release at the same exact time as every major news organization in the U.S. is naive.
If you want to blame somebody, blame Palin for subjecting her daughter to the obvious pain and scrutiny by accepting McCain's offer.

[djellison]

She's preaching one thing. Her family is doing something totally different. If she can't even convince her own family to do things her way - what on earth is she doing as the VP candidate.

The pregnancy itself is not newsworthy.

What it says about Palin as a potential leader, is.

Doug

[thejadedmonkey]

This all relates to the claims (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/31/145838/319/386/581332) that Trig Palin is not Sarah's 5th child, but Bristol's first.

I liked how every news report that I saw managed to somehow bring up Trig being Bristol's child, while saying that bristol was pregnant.