Palin’s show causes a buzz

April 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

NEW YORK — Sarah Palin’s new series on Fox News, “Real American Stories,” celebrates such unobjectionable qualities as generosity and perseverance. In the debut episode, which aired Thursday, Palin interviewed an 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy whose service dog inspired him to learn to walk and a young woman who saved an oil-tanker driver from a fire.

The fact that the program debuted amid a cloud of controversy, despite its heartwarming material, underscores the alchemic effect of the former Alaska governor.

It seems every move by the onetime Republican vice presidential nominee triggers a furor, even as she seeks to broaden her appeal through new media ventures, including a docu-series about Alaska for the cable channel TLC slated for later this year.

In this case, Palin’s mere presence as host of “Real American Stories” was the instigating factor.

After Fox News announced earlier this week that the premiere would feature rapper LL Cool J and country music star Toby Keith, representatives for both performers took pains to note that they had not sat down for interviews with Palin.

Rather, the network planned to incorporate old interviews they did for a related online project also called “Real American Stories,” launched before Palin joined the network as a contributor this year.

Fox News ultimately cut the footage of LL Cool J from the episode. Still, executives noted that the network had not agreed to any restrictions when interviewing him and could have aired it.

The interview with Keith about the inspiration behind his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue [The Angry American]” remained in the show, in a piece voiced over by Palin. Elaine Schock, a spokeswoman for the musician, said that the network had the right to show the footage, taken in early 2009, but that she would have preferred to be asked whether Keith wanted to participate.

Fox News said a producer contacted Schock via e-mail to let her know the Keith interview was airing. A copy of the e-mail obtained by the Los Angeles Times shows it was sent to Schock’s e-mail address late Monday afternoon. She said she never received it.

The attention may prove to be a mixed blessing. Because Palin is such a lightning rod, some celebrities are wary about being associated with even uncontroversial projects such as “Real American Stories,” noted Jeffrey McCall, a communications professor at DePauw University in Indiana.