AK Dispatch's Super Solid Anonymous Source Starts a Not So Solid Rumor

The Alaska Dispatch published a rather ridiculous piece this afternoon titled "Is Mama Grizzly thinking about reviving 'Sarah Palin's Alaska'?" The "source" the AK Dispatch uses as the basis for the article is an anonymous rumor, yet it was described to me by Amanda Coyne as "solid." Like Ian, I am fond of Amanda Coyne for various reasons; however, I don't understand exactly how you can characterize as "solid" an anonymous source for whom "the details remain unknown." In fact, the piece lacks any real details at all, so it certainly doesn't pass the smell test with me. They wrote:

The former Alaska governor is rumored to be talking to the cable network TLC about reviving "Sarah Palin's Alaska," the reality show about Palin and her family as they romp through the 49th state.

A source tells Alaska Dispatch there have been some discussions, though the details remain unknown. "Sarah Palin's Alaska" aired last year. It did relatively well for a reality TV show. It also benefited from $1.2 million in state film tax credits, the result of a bill Palin signed into law while governor.

In December, PopEater reported that "Sarah Palin's Alaska" was such a hit that the network was "doing everything it can" to convince the former Alaska governor to sign on for a second season. That prompted a tweet from Palin mouthpiece Rebecca Mansour: "Rule of thumb: anything 'PopEater' reports about Sarah Palin is completely made up -- as in fabricated out of thin air."

Seven months later, Palin has bigger decisions on her mind: Should she run for president? She's indicated that she'll make up her mind sometime in August or September. Scott Conroy at RealClearPolitics, who’s getting all the Palin scoops these days, reported she will be the keynote speaker at a tea party rally in Iowa on Sept. 3., indicating, as Conroy put it, “that her sights are still set on a presidential run.”

Keep in mind that this "report" flies in the face of everything else we've been hearing lately. It doesn't mesh with what credible reporters like Scott Conroy have been saying.

I find it hilarious that they added that part about 'PopEater' yet went on to file a report in the same vein. Keep it up Dispatch and I may just have to write a piece containing all of the scurrilous rumors I've heard about Craig Medred. And trust me, nobody wants that.