CBS News forced to explain that it has nothing to do with Alaska affiliate

Your average angry, partisan-charged individual doesn't necessarily know the difference between a network affiliate and a network.

That's why some folks are somehow finding a way to trash CBS News for the actions of its completely unrelated Anchorage affiliate, KTVA.

The backstory: According to Mediaite, KTVA reporters were caught on an answering machine (they thought they had already hung up) plotting (or some would argue, joking) negative stories about Alaskan candidate Joe Miller.

KTVA is a CBS affiliate, but that's it -- CBS doesn't own KTVA. That hasn't stopped some uninformed folks from using this as an excuse to trash CBS anyway. In a statement, a CBS News spokesperson notes:

"KTVA News is owned by the Alaska Broadcasting Co., not CBS. No CBS staffers were involved and CBS has no knowledge of and no comment on these allegations."

Meanwhile, KTVA General Manager Jerry Bever responded to the allegations leveled against it:

"It's unfortunate that this recording has happened. It's unfortunate because it does not accurately reflect the journalistic standards of our newsroom and the garbled context will no doubt leave more questions than answers. The Miller campaign's analysis of the recording is incorrect in many material ways ranging from personnel involved in the conversation, the interpretation of conversation snippets and the reported transcript of the perceived garbled conversation."