Books were only a teeny sliver of the burgeoning Palin media empire. In 2010, Roger Ailes, the former Nixon/Reagan/Bush/Quayle adviser and now the chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel, gave her a multiyear deal at $1 million per annum. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news,” the renowned news junkie said. It wasn’t long, though, before Fox experienced buyer’s remorse. One year later, a source close to Ailes told New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, “He thinks Palin is an idiot. He thinks she’s stupid.”
