How to confirm a Sarah Palin story -- Updated: Story in The NY Times -- Re-Updated: NY Times publishes excerpt of 'The Rogue'

I am not a journalist. In fact, I don't have a single journalism class under my belt. I may not even be a writer: on a good day I might be lucky to be considered a junior writer. So it was interesting to read, this morning, about a story that's said to originate in Joe McGinniss' book, “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin.” It's said in a National Enquirer story that Sarah Palin had a "fetish" for black men and "had a steamy interracial hookup with basketball stud Glen Rice less than a year before she eloped with her husband Todd."

What was interesting was that it's said that McGinniss got confirmation of the story from Glen Rice, himself. So that's how it's done! It never occurred to me, a non-journalist, that a story about Sarah Palin could become news if the story could be confirmed. A conversation between a tipster and a journalist might go something like this:

Tipster: Sarah had a one-night stand.

Journalist: How do you know?

Tipster: It was steamy, man.

Journalist: And with whom did she have this steamy, one-night stand?

Tipster: Glen Rice, the NBA star.

Then, the journalist could simply check with Glen Rice to see whether he would confirm the story. Isn't that simple?

It's said that Glen Rice has confirmed the story. The National Enquirer's breathless, screaming headline is "WORLD EXCLUSIVE! SARAH PALIN BOMBSHELL BOOK SHOCKING CLAIMS!" Larry Brown Sports has "Glen Rice and Sarah Palin Reportedly Had One-Night Stand." The story at Larry Brown Sports links to a video of Sarah Palin as a sportscaster on an Anchorage TV station.

Could I get Joe McGinniss to confirm this story about something that's said to be in his book? Me? A lowly blogger? Nah! Don't even ask. Just hit publish!


Update: The Washington Post has "Report: Glen Rice, Sarah Palin had a one-night stand in ’87," which embeds the Sarah Palin sportscaster video.

Update: The Miami Herald has "Glen Rice: I slept with Sarah Palin."

Update: The New York Daily News has "Sarah Palin had sex with basketball player, snorted cocaine and cheated on husband, book claims."

Update: The New York Daily News has "Mama Grizzly Palin Mauled In New Tell-All Book." What will we tell the cubs?

Update: The New York Times has "She Could See This Guy From Her House," written by famous book and film critic Janet Maslin:

... And these stories need not be consistent. “The Rogue” suggests that Todd Palin and the young Sarah Heath took drugs. It also says that she lacked boyfriends and was a racist. And it includes this: “A friend says, ‘Sarah and her sisters had a fetish for black guys for a while.’ ” Mr. McGinniss did in 2011 make a phone call to the former N.B.A. basketball player Glen Rice, who is black, and prompted him to acknowledge having fond memories of Sarah Heath. While Mr. Rice avoids specifics and uses the words “respectful” and “a sweetheart,” Mr. McGinniss eggs him on with the kind of flagrantly leading question he seems to have habitually asked. In Mr. Rice’s case: “So you never had the feeling she felt bad about having sex with a black guy?” ...

I read that as an indication that Glen Rice confirmed the story.

Update: A three page excerpt of McGinniss' book has been published by The New York Times, here. It's about McGinniss' adventure of looking for a place to rent in Alaska.

Update: Joe McGinniss will be interviewed on NBC's Today Show, tomorrow at 7:00 A.M (Eastern, check your local schedule). The show will include Todd Palin's -- Palin Inc's CEO? -- response to the book.

Update: The Daily Beast's Book Beast has "New Palin Book’s 6 Juiciest Leaks."

Here is Joe McGinniss' interview on "Today:"

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