Palin comes out fighting over 'exploitation' by comic actress

SARAH Palin, the governor of Alaska and last year's Republican candidate for US vice-president, has accused CBS News anchor Katie Couric and comic actress Tina Fey of "exploiting" her.

Mrs Palin reflected on her campaign for national office in an interview this week with conservative radio talk-show host and film-maker John Ziegler.

Mrs Palin gave Couric a rare interview at the start of her campaign, and Fey often impersonated the governor on the comedy show Saturday Night Live.

Mrs Palin also questioned whether Caroline Kennedy was getting better treatment from the US media in her quest for a Senate seat than she received as presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.

Mrs Palin said there might be a "class issue" involved in coverage of Ms Kennedy, a Democrat, and her own bid for office. Ms Kennedy is the daughter of late US president John F Kennedy.

Mrs Palin said the media seemed to have handled Ms Kennedy with "kid gloves" – in contrast to the battering she says she and her family took during last year's campaign. She singled out the Couric interview as condescending, in particular the question: "What do you guys do up there?"

Mrs Palin, 44, also complained about news reports suggesting that Trig Palin was not her son and said she was "frustrated" by rumours about her and her family. Trig, Mrs Palin's fifth child, was born in April. Internet bloggers suggested the child was actually born to her teenage daughter Bristol.

Mrs Palin said news organisations respected Democratic candidate Barack Obama's declaration that his family was off-limits for coverage, but she had not been extended the same courtesy. She called it a "sad state of affairs".

"What is the double-standard here?" she asked. "Why would people choose to believe lies? What is it that drives people to believe the worst?

"When did we start accepting anonymous bloggers as hard news sources?"