January 31, 2013<\/span><\/em> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n If a photograph, \u00a0such as this one<\/a>, is worth 1,000 words, then how much are words themselves worth? If you\u2019re a freelance writer these days, a decent rate is about 10 cents per. But if you\u2019re Sarah Palin, each utterance comes in just under $16.<\/p>\n Palin\u2019s $1 million-a-year contract with Fox News just expired, and a professor at the University of Minnesota took the time (probably on a salary of about $16\u00a0an hour) to calculate exactly how that money was spent.<\/p>\n According to his calculations,<\/a>\u00a0Palin spoke exactly 189,221 words over the course of her three-year tenure at Fox, equaling an average rate of $15.85 per utterance. That means that a 100-word string of Palin proclamations is roughly worth (at least in the eyes of Fox) an ounce of gold.<\/p>\n She appeared on the network television station approximately once a week between 2010 and 2012 to speak these valuable phrases, most often frequenting the shows of Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren.<\/p>\n And while professor Eric Ostermeier didn\u2019t provide us with a complete transcript (thank God), he does give us some nuggets.<\/p>\n Over the three years, Fox spent $158.50 for Palin to say \u201cRight on!\u201d and $1,759.35 for her to say \u201cAmen.\u201d It also spent $729.10 for her to utter the almost swear words of \u201cdarn,\u201d \u201chell,\u201d \u201cdamn,\u201d and (most often) \u201check!\u201d<\/p>\n The network spent by far the most money paying for Palin\u2019s thoughts on the sitting president: Fox dished out a staggering $24,916.20 (an entire annual salary for millions of working Americans) for her to say the two words \u201cPresident Obama\u201d over her three-year contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n None of this money, however, was able to imbue these words with one iota of intrinsic value–yet another example of the widening gap between a commodity\u2019s market rate and its real value to society.\u00a0<\/p>\n Laura Gottesdiener is a freelance journalist and activist in New York City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A 100-word string of Palin proclamations cost as much as an ounce of gold (in the eyes of Fox).<\/p>\n January 31, 2013<\/span><\/em> | <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\nStay up to date with the latest headlines via email.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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