The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting article titled “Sarah Palin: MSNBC’s Obsession With Her.” It’s an excellent analysis on why the news networks are addicted to covering Sarah Palin. The author has done a fair amount of research in terms of analyzing how often the news networks feature stories about her. As the title suggests, they focus on MSNBC’s dependence on her for keeping their ratings up. 

I was shocked at the numbers the reporter complied and justifiably claims that she is the #2 news maker of 2010, behind Barack Obama based on news coverage. But here’s the money quote:

“MSNBC will never find anything like Sarah Palin,” Ziegler says. “It’s much cheaper than real news. Just take Sarah Palin, add guests, some hatred, and mix. No other topic can replace her right now because that would require actual reporting.”

This lines up well with my theory that Sarah Palin is the Democrat’s Emmanuel Goldstein and is a necessary component of their Two Minutes Hate.