Yesterday I wrote about the journalism ethics disaster that Sarah Palin's bus tour represents for Fox News. At the same time that they're confirming (and reconfirming) that Palin's contractual status with the network remains unchanged, Palin is gleefully teasing reporters with hints that she may run while Fox News enthusiastically covers (and hypes) Palin's bus tour and her prospects as a 2012 Republican presidential candidate. And after a full week of this farce we now learn that Palin will be the “exclusive” guest of Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

It's quite the racket they have set up over there: Palin spends a week pretending to run for president while being paid by Fox News, which in turn hypes coverage of her potential 2012 candidacy even as they stress that she's still an employee of the network. At the end of the week, after Palin's non-campaign has been hyped to the point that it's driving actual politicians' campaigns to the margins, Palin grants a ratings-driving “exclusive” interview to her Fox News colleague Chris Wallace.

Palin cashes her paychecks, Fox News gets their ratings -- except for the massive ruptures of ethics and propriety, it's a win-win!