CNBC Anchor 'Embarrassed' by Media Coverage of Palin Daughter

     Sex sells, even during a presidential election. But that doesn’t mean journalists have to be happy about it.

     CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-host Joe Kernan took a moment during a panel discussion September 2 to take a shot at the onslaught of coverage over presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy.

      “You know as a member of the media I’m just kind of embarrassed with the media,” Kernan said. “The media says ‘Yeah it shouldn’t matter, it’s not going to matter, we’re not going to cover it’ and then they put it on the cover of every paper.”

     Earlier in the broadcast Kernan said, “I don’t understand everybody at the same time saying that this is not going to be a big deal … the press is going to be responsible about this, Barack Obama please don’t make anything of this, but then it’s the cover of every paper like it, you know, like matters.

     Kernan said he “felt a little bit like the guy in Casablanca, shocked, you know: teen sex in Alaska, John. Probably not that much of a shocker I guess, right? Not a whole lot. I guess bowling, yeah, It’s a little lonely probably up there, right, John?

     CNBC conducted the most recent interview with Palin before it was announced she would be on the GOP ticket with presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain. A few of the business network’s staff have also jumped to Palin’s defense amid negative media coverage.

     CNBC’s August 29 “Squawk on the Street” featured “Closing Bell” host Maria Bartiromo and “Kudlow & Company” host Larry Kudlow analyzing Republican presidential nominee McCain’s decision to pick Palin as his running mate.

     Bartiromo, who scored to most current interview with Palin after interviewing the governor for an upcoming CNBC special on energy, called her a “terrific choice.”

      “I can tell you a lot about Gov. Palin just from my conversation with her and from the day that we spent with her and that is she challenged the establishment in Alaska,” Bartiromo said, referring to an Aug. 25 interview. “She is very, very popular in Alaska and what she brings to the table predominantly is her knowledge and her know-how of energy. That’s the bottom line.”

      “In an environment where energy is probably the number two after the economy and housing issue in this election, she is really a terrific choice for McCain here,” Bartiromo added. “She’s also obviously a terrific choice because she’s a woman trying to attract those Hillary voters now and those supporters.”

     Kudlow also shared his opinion of Palin, saying she has “impressed” him during two recent interviews on his primetime program.

      “And I was impressed at the time with her attitude – you know, she wasn’t sucking up to it – she’s saying, ‘Well, wait a minute, I got a good job here,” Kudlow said. “And she’s trying to clean out the corruption in Alaska with all this horrible, you know, [Sen.] Ted Stevens [Rep.] Don Young stuff. She’s drill, drill, drill. She’s a supply-sider and I think, by the way, politically, she is going to cut in to the working class women – the Hillary-disaffected vote that’s leaving Barack Obama, so this is just a fascinating, fascinating choice.”