Horror: Bristol Palin Earns Honest Money for Honest Work

Bristol Palin's earnings as an advocate against teen pregnancy is front page news today with headlines blaring that she's "cashing in." Bristol has done nothing illegal, unethical, or immoral regarding her earnings, but the newspaper headlines imply otherwise. Yet another another headline takes Candies Foundation to task for paying her a sum the "reporters" deem "inappropriate" compared to the charitable contributions the organization makes.

One of the better headlines written by the The Blaze simply states that she made $262,000 for her teen pregnancy prevention work. The reporter Emily Esfahani Smith at least states in her lead that Bristol earned this money.

The media coverage was so negative and biased that Candies Foundation released the following statement:

Candie's Foundation Statement on Bristol Palin Compensation

For ten years, The Candie's Foundation has been working to prevent teen pregnancy by producing and funding celebrity-driven print, television, radio and online public service announcements. Ms. Palin was compensated for her work with the foundation, which included appearing in video and print PSAs, two town hall meetings, and numerous media interviews.

The message of the foundation about teen pregnancy prevention has generated more than ONE BILLION media impressions – tremendous reach for any teen pregnancy prevention campaign. We know that Ms. Palin's work has had a positive effect on teens. In a recent independent national survey of 1,000 teens that compared a Bristol Palin PSA with those of another national teen pregnancy organization that use non-famous teens, more than twice as many teens (57% vs. 27%) said Bristol's PSA "got my attention", three times as many (41% vs. 11%) said it was "powerful", and more than twice as many (38% vs. 16%) said it was "memorable".

Bristol Palin is one of dozens of celebrities who has worked with the foundation. She has been a courageous and powerful partner to the foundation as we attempt to discourage teen pregnancy.

This truly does sound like "déjà vu all over again," as Bristol's mom, Governor Palin is routinely and mercilessly savaged over the income she earns from speaking, book sales, her Fox contract and Sarah Palin's Alaska mini-series.

Bristol is a busy and productive young woman both as a teen advocate and an entertainer. She is currently writing her memoir “Not Afraid of Life” to be published by William Morrow, a Harper Collins imprint, with a release date of June 21, 2011. It is available for pre-order at the North Star Group Amazon store.

Bristol speaks about teen pregnancy and women's issues and can be booked through the Single Source Speakers Bureau.

Bristol was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, Season 11, finishing the competition in third place. She bought a house in Maricopa, Arizona where she lives with her son, Tripp. She also cut a music video with Alaskan rock band Static Cycle, titled "Inside this World of Mine."

As of this writing, Bristol has 49,491 friends on her Facebook Page.

US for Palin and The People for Palin both maintain pages dedicated to Bristol's life and accomplishments.

H/T Karen Allen for lead to The Blaze story.