Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Buy Sarah Palin all US newspapers ever printed


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought Sarah Palin all copies of all US newspapers ever printed.

When asked by Katie Couric which newspapers she read, Sarah Palin answered, 'all of them'.
COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.
Newspaper industry circulation revenue totaled about $11 billion in 2004.  Using this figure as the value of each year's newspaper circulation since the founding of the country -- probably a high estimate, as the nation and its newspaper industry were smaller in early years -- the total value of all US newspapers is $2.55 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.