Palin Was Sports Intern At KTUU-TV

The assignment editor at KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska, confirms that John McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was once a sports intern at the NBC affiliate.


Assignment manager Edward Bennett said it was sometime in the 1980's, but was trying to hunt up some "corporate memory" or an-air check. "I think she was on the air briefly," he says, but adds that he doesn't think he has any video.


 Alaska Broadcasters Association spokesperson Darlene Simono said she was at the station for "less than three months," March through May of 1988.


Her Wikipedia bio--one of the only ones accessible online as the world Googled to find more info on her Friday--reported her as a one-time sport reporter, but it is not clear whether that was referring to the internship at KTUU, Bennett said he didn't think she had gone to another station after her stint at KTUU, but did not know for sure.


Palin, who only took over as governor in 2006, has been a small-town mayor, businesswoman, and runner-up as Miss Alaska. McCain picked her as a reformer who would help him shake up Washington.

Michael Malone contributed to this story

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.