This is the place to talk about Alaska politics -- state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has probably never been more interesting than right now -- the governor as candidate for vice president, the broad and still-evolving corruption investigation, a big election, powerful members of Congress under scrutiny, and the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.
Erika Bolstad
Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.
Sean Cockerham
Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the ADN before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com
Kyle Hopkins
Kyle Hopkins covers politics and other stories for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com
SECTION
The FBI raided state legislatures offices in Aug. 2006, and the fallout since has been epic in Alaska's political world.
Bob Poe running for governor - 1/7/2009 1:50 pm
Before the storm - Palin e-mails from Aug. 27 - 1/7/2009 12:07 pm
Reid on punishment for Stevens - 1/7/2009 7:32 am
Polling on Palin vs. Murkowski - 1/6/2009 3:24 pm
Citgo 'suspends' free heating oil program - 1/5/2009 2:37 pm
Palin's comments on first grandchild - 12/31/2008 4:35 pm
Suicide council audit - 12/30/2008 9:11 pm
Son of Snowzilla - 12/30/2008 8:55 pm
'People' editor: No deal for baby photos. Yet. - 12/30/2008 1:12 pm
'Baby Name Bible' - 12/29/2008 8:14 pm
Anchorage Mayor: Begich out, Claman in Jan. 3 - 12/26/2008 12:40 pm
No trash power? (Plus: School board pay) - 12/26/2008 11:22 am
PETA's beef with Palin - 12/24/2008 12:02 pm
"The opportunities that were not seized." - 12/22/2008 1:48 pm
Palin's next big speech? - 12/22/2008 12:37 pm
Here we go - a look at potential 2010 election matchups (and Palin popularity) - 12/20/2008 1:42 pm
Hawker to Palin: Try again - 12/19/2008 5:11 pm
Video: Palin on salary, energy plan - 12/19/2008 9:58 am
Walt Monegan is planning to run for mayor - 12/18/2008 4:40 pm
Covering Juneau - 12/17/2008 5:07 pm
Palin says no to raise; energy plan delayed - 12/17/2008 2:19 pm
Meyer joins majority, gets LB&A (Updated with McGuire, Menard joining too) - 12/16/2008 5:45 pm
Posted: November 25, 2008 - 2:21 pm
Comments (0) |
From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --
Sarah Palin's turkey interview has become - as the political blog Wonkette put it -- an "oddly endurant" story.
That guy who was killing the turkeys in the background of Palin's interview, Brian Tomes, is on the TV show Inside Edition today, saying he was just doing his job and "things happen."
The YouTube clip is now up to 2.5 million hits.
Palin says she was unaware the slaughter was going on behind her during the interview. KTUU's chief photographer, Scott Jensen, shot the footage. He thought Palin was fine with the imagery.
Jensen said Palin chose the spot and he asked if the background was OK.
"From my best recollection I said to her, 'Governor, are you aware of what's going on behind you? Is this background OK with you?' I didn't specifically tell her 'turkeys are being killed,' " Jensen told me. "This is why I feel it's within the realm of possibility that she really didn't know."
There's dispute over exactly when the turkey killing began. Jensen said he thought it obvious what was going on and recalls workers processing turkeys before the interview started. The governor's office maintains it didn't happen until later.
Jensen said Kris Perry, the governor's friend and head of her Anchorage office, nudged him during the interview and said something about how she couldn't believe he was recording the scene. Afterward she asked him to edit out the background.
Jensen said he made no promises and feels that, as a journalist, it's not his job to sanitize the scene for the governor's office. He agrees with KTUU's decision to pull the shot from its broadcasts after the 5 p.m. broadcast, though, saying it didn't fit with the context of the story, which was a feature on Palin pardoning a turkey before Thanksgiving.
UPDATE -- If there's actually anyone out there who hasn't seen this interview footage, check it out here. The unedited KTUU interview is the second video as you scroll down the post.
By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to adn.com's user agreement.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
© Copyright 2009, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company 
Contact Us | Newsroom Contacts | Communication Forms | Subscriptions | Advertising | Featured Advertisers | Terms of Use
Daily News Jobs | RSS Feeds | ADN Store | Newspapers in Education | Privacy Agreement
@Nyx.CommentBody@