Sarah Palin is Not Moving to Montana

By Kellyn Brown, 8-03-09

Several blogs claimed over the weekend that former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was divorcing her husband and moving to Montana. It’s not true. And no journalists had reported the rumor until Palin’s spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, posted the following statement on Facebook denying the then-obscure allegation.

Yet again, some so-called journalists have decided to make up a story. There is no truth to the recent “story” (and story is the correct term for this type of fiction) that the Palins are divorcing. The Palins remain married, committed to each other and their family, and have not purchased land in Montana (last week it was reported to be Long Island).

Asked why she addressed the rumor at all, Stapleton said she was responding to the high volume of media inquiries. But POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin points out:

By having her spokeswoman repeat the charges to rebut them in a public form, Palin effectively guaranteed coverage from the mainstream media that otherwise would not report claims attributed to unnamed sources on an anonymous blog.

[End of article]