So of course the Times has decided to join Drudge's media dance card by hyping his manufactured story about Oprah Winfrey not interviewing Palin. (See context here.) Look at the opening to the Times' piece:

“Oprah Winfrey has said she will not interview Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the hottest political star in the firmament, and the decision is drawing negative reviews from many fans of the doyenne of daytime television.

A group of Republican women in Florida has announced a boycott of Ms. Winfrey's television show and called for cancellations of subscriptions to her magazine, ”O: The Oprah Magazine." [Emphasis added.]

See the problem there? Partisans pick up Drudge's phony story and then the Times strolls in and claims the partisans represent “many fans.” Ugh.

And by the way, the idea that Winfrey's staff was “sharply divided” by the Palin dispute, as Drudge's “sources” first claimed? Keep this mind, via Newsday's TV Zone:

“There's no such thing as a ”divided" staff out there in Chicago. She is the Queen. They are her subjects. There are no disputes with the Queen, and that is that."