Fox News has been busy promoting Sarah Palin’s first interview since the Tucson Slaughter. It finally took place last night on Sean Hannity’s show.

I’m not going to waste time analyzing her response to Hannity’s obsequious inquiry because it was, for the most part, either incoherent gibberish or self-indulgent whining. But I do want to comment on the absurdity of this being presented as an interview in the context of journalism.

Ethical journalists do not pay subjects for interviews, particularly subjects in the public service arena. However, Palin was being paid for her appearance on the Hannity show. She is a contracted Fox News contributor. So what we witnessed last night was one Fox News employee interviewing another Fox News employee and pretending that it had news value.

This is just another example of why Fox ought not to be considered a legitimate news network. If Palin wanted to appear on Hannity’s program in her role as a Fox contributor, that would be fine and in accordance with her contract. But to pass this off as a newsmaker interview amounts to nothing less than deception and journalistic malpractice.

Expect more of this sort of charade in the months ahead because at least five prospective GOP presidential candidates are presently on the Fox payroll. Anyone who sees these imitation interviews needs to remember that they are bought and paid for. And that includes other media enterprises who report on what they see on Fox.