Does This CNN Anchor Owe the Palin Family an On-Air Apology?

It was a violent incident in which Bristol Palin, daughter of the former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, said she was assaulted and cursed out.

But as graphic audio from the night of the fight emerged, CNN anchor Carol Costello treated the whole thing like a big, delicious joke.

“This is quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across," Costello said, sounding gleeful as she introduced audio of a distraught Bristol Palin describing being attacked. "Well, come across in a long time anyway."

Costello told her viewers to, "Sit back and enjoy.”

On Thursday, Costello apologized for the way she had treated the incident...to Politico.

But as the Washington Post's Erik Wemple pointed out Friday evening, Costello did not apologize on her own show, and in Wemple's view, that's much like when NBC executives apologized to other media outlets, but not on NBC itself, for editing audio from the George Zimmerman 911 call.

"Earlier this week, morning anchor Carol Costello exhibited brazen insensitivity to the ordeal experience by Bristol Palin and her family members in a recent brawl that has attracted a great deal of media attention," Wemple wrote. "The Erik Wemple Blog catches Costello’s CNN show daily — and thinks sky-highly of her anchoring work — but didn’t catch any moment of regret mirroring what she told Politico. A CNN spokeswoman confirms no such event has taken place. It must."

For her part, Sarah Palin rejected Costello's apology via Politico, Fox News reported.

"I understand that the CNN host who laughed at my daughter describing her assault has issued an apology to Politico," Palin said. "Why Politico needs an apology is anyone’s guess. No one at CNN contacted my family regarding an apology, in case you were wondering."

What do you think about Costello's actions? Take the poll below and discuss.

(H/T: Mediaite)

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