On Fox & Friends Saturday today, co-host Alisyn Camerota promoted an interview with Sarah Palin to be featured next week on the weekday edition of the show. Neither Camerota nor the on-screen text disclosed Palin's status as a paid Fox News contributor.

A number of potential Republican presidential candidates, including Palin, are employed by Fox. As Media Matters has documented, Fox has donated at least $40 million in airtime to these potential candidates. Media Matters estimated the equivalent cost advertisers would pay for the amount of air time Fox gave to each of its potential candidates; the figure for Palin was approximately $5 million. With the appearance scheduled for next week, that figure will increase.

This week, we questioned whether it is ethical for “fair and balanced” Fox to retain Palin and other Republican contributors who are considering presidential runs in 2012. Perhaps as Palin continues to hint that she is considering running, Fox is hesitant to remind viewers of its relationship with her, even as it gives her a platform to make her case.