THE McGINNISS v PALIN CONTROVERSY

Ifirst heard of Sarah Palin in the spring of 2008, as I considered returning to Alaska to see how the state I described in Going to Extremes in 1980 was faring more than twenty-five years later. One difference popped up right away: Alaska now had a woman governor. At first, I thought she’d be a small part of a much larger story. Then John McCain made her a star. Suddenly, there was no story bigger than Sarah Palin.

But who was she, behind the good looks, the smart mouth, the sexy wardrobe? My search for the answer to that question triggered fireworks from the start.

Part One: The Gas Pipeline Dust-Up

I returned to Alaska in November, 2008, to write a story for Condé Nast Portfolio about Sarah’s claim that she’d brought about construction of a $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which she called “the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history,”—a claim that proved to be false.

3/09
My article makes the cover the Portfolio’s April 2009 issue.

3/16/09

Sarah doesn’t like it. Even before she and her supporters have read the article, they attack it–and me. I get my first taste of the vitriol to come.

3/17/09

The Huffington Post presents a more balanced view of the dust-up.

3/25/09

Sarah’s spokespeople and I continue to exchange views via the media. But even the very conservative National Review, which disagrees with my conclusions, calls the piece “well-researched” and gives me credit for “putting the spotlight on a thorny, complicated dispute that’s holding up a major project.”

7/8/09

Months later, commentators are still citing the article for its revealing look at Sarah’s dark side.

Part Two: The Next-Door Neighbor Fuss

I started work on The Rogue in the fall of 2009, spending several weeks in Alaska. I returned in May, 2010, knowing I’d need a place to live for the next few months. As I was about to sign a lease on an Anchorage apartment, I received a surprising phone call: the woman who owned the house next to the Palins on Lake Lucille in Wasilla wanted to rent it to me. I moved in, and then the fun began.

5/22/10

I move into the little house next door to the Palins’ huge one on Lake Lucille in Wasilla, Alaska.

5/24/10

Todd Palin walks around the fence to talk to me while I’m sitting on my deck.

5/24/10

A few hours later, Sarah Palin posts a Facebook entry and a secretly taken photo that kicks off an international media frenzy

5/25/10

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck lashes out at me and my publisher

5/25/10

Dave Weigel at the Washington Post thinks Palin and the Right are overreacting

Right-wing radio host Mark Levin gives out my email address, provoking a flood of abusive mail

5/26/10

The women of The View debate my decision—creepy or cool?

5/26/10

There’s no doubt over at Fox News, where Kelly’s Court tries me and finds me guilty

Jack Shafer at Slate looks at my move from a journalist’s POV

5/27-29/10

Right-wing bloggers go truly nuts

5/27/10

Another Washington Post writer weighs in on Palin’s side of the fence

5/27/10

Alex Pareene at Salon slams ABC for shameless pro-Palin coverage of the story

5/27/10

A Time Magazine blogger claims that my move is bad for journalism

5/28/10

David Carr at the New York Times takes a more generous view

5/28/10

Eric Boehlert at Media Matters ponders Palin’s hysterical reaction

6/1/10

I appear on the Today Show and talk about Palin “unleashing the hounds of hell”

6/1/10

Furious at NBC for the Today Show, Sarah posts another long, indignant Facebook entry

7/19-7/25/10

The media furor gradually dies down. In July Garry Trudeau devotes six strips to the controversy, sending Doonesbury’s intrepid reporter Roland Hedley to Wasilla to live next door to me

9/4/10

But when I move out three months later, the media runs another round of stories

11/4/2010

And when Sarah’s series on Alaska debuts on The Learning Channel in November, she can’t resist a few more swipes at her summertime neighbor

To be continued…