We've noted them many times in recent months; headlines that often have little connection to the content of the article. We assume this is done by Politico editor to goose the click-through rate by promising readers juicy stories that Politico often cannot deliver. But the practice is wildly misleading and represents bad journalism.

In a statement following her recent interview with John Ziegler in which she addressed her own press coverage during the campaign, Palin singled out a recent Politico headline as being unfair: “Palin: Media Goes Easy on Kennedy.”

This was Politico's lead [emphasis added]:

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) believes Caroline Kennedy is getting softer press treatment in her pursuit of the New York Senate seat than Palin did as the GOP vice presidential nominee because of Kennedy's social class.

“I've been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope,” Palin told conservative filmmaker John Ziegler during an interview Monday for his upcoming documentary film, “How Obama Got Elected.” Excerpts from the interview were posted on YouTube Wednesday evening.

“It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be.”

Did you note the verb tense problem? Politico reported Palin claimed Kennedy “is getting softer press treatment.” (Present tense.) But in her comments to Ziegler, Palin was clearly looking forward and wondering whether the press “will” handle Kennedy with kid gloves if she gets appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's senate seat. (Future tense.)

Politico though, just fudged the facts and reported something more pleasing.

And Newsbusters please take note, I just defended Sarah Palin from an unfair press report.