Walter Cronkite Is Spinning In His Grave.

From PublicPolicyPolling.com:

A new poll asking Americans whether they trust each of the major

television news operations in the country finds that the only one getting a positive review

is Fox News. CNN does next best followed by NBC News, then CBS News, and finally

ABC News.

49% of Americans say they trust Fox News to 37% who disagree. Predictably there is a

large party split on this with 74% of Republicans but only 30% of Democrats saying they

trust the right leaning network.

CNN does next best because it is the second most trusted of Democrats, Republicans, and

independents. 39% say they trust it compared to 41% who do not, with 59% of

Democrats, 33% of independents and 23% of Republicans saying it carries credibility

with them.

The major networks all have the majority trust of Democrats but less than 20% from

Republicans. NBC, perhaps because of the ideological bent of MSNBC, does the best

among Democrats at 62%. Overall 35% of voters trust it to 44% who do not. CBS does

the worst among Republicans, with 69% distrusting it. A plurality of independents

express distrust of all five outlets we tested.

“A generation ago you would have expected Americans to place their trust in the most

neutral and unbiased conveyors of news,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy

Polling. “But the media landscape has really changed and now they’re turning more

toward the outlets that tell them what they want to hear.”

Teabag TV is the most trusted name in news? That's the way it is?

Those Fox-y Public Airwaves.

Teabaggers Have Tuesday Off, So Wingnuts Will Protest A TV Comic Instead.

From the New York Daily News:

A Web site called FireDavidLetterman.com is organizing a rally outside Letterman's show at the Ed Sullivantheater on Tuesday June 16 at 4:30 p.m.

And while Letterman has repeatedly reminded viewers his comments were jokes, the campaign's organizers seem dead serious about getting the late-night stalwart canned.

Sponsored by New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb, along with an attorney and radio host John Ziegler, the site also provides contacts - including major advertisers and CBS bigwigs - to whom people can complain about what many felt was a tasteless and potentially harmful quip by the late night talk leader.

(Editor's note: JackRabbit Café has posted several items regarding outrage-of-the-moment, failed radio hack John Ziegler--here and here--who now seems to act as some sort of de facto Palin media representative. It gets weirder; New York magazine reminds us of the time Ziegler went on that dating show.)

Our l'il helicopter hunter really knows how to pick 'em.

"Firing Mr. Letterman would send a clear message that CBS will not tolerate any of its employees even an established media figure like Mr. Letterman making demeaning and degrading comments about women," Kolb, a Republican from the Western New York state district of Canandaigua, wrote in a letter to CBS chief Les Moonves.

The accompanying Facebook group and an ancillary one have about 1,800 members to date.

"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game," Letterman said, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

Letterman contends that the outcry over the comment was due at least in part to a misunderstanding.

He had intended the joke to be about Palin's oldest daughter, Bristol, 18, who did in fact become pregnant by her then-boyfriend Levi Johnston, when in fact the daughter attending the game was Willow, age 14.

The loudest response from no less than Palin herself, who went on the "Today" show Thursday morning to rant against the comedian.

Hey, Dave: stop apologizing! You are a comedian who made a joke that you say was in bad taste; Palin is a desperate politician from the tundra who'll do or say anything to stay in the news. Just shut up about it and she'll move on to her next manufactured outrage as quickly as you can say, "abstinence."