[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/16/art.lateshow0616.gi.jpg caption="Fifteen protesters showed up Tuesday outside of the studio where David Letterman tapes his talk show program."]
NEW YORK (CNN) - A protest rally against David Letterman over a failed joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughter attracted more members of the media than protesters Tuesday afternoon.

A crowd of 15 protesters upset with the late night comic held signs and occasionally shouted as they stood across the street from Letterman's studio.

But they were often hidden from view by the more than 35 members of the media there to cover the protest, and out-shouted by a few very vocal counter-protesters.

Radio talk show host John Ziegler - who is behind the FireDavidLetterman.com Web site that organized the protest, and who is an outspoken supporter of the former Republican vice presidential candidate - told reporters that the turnout at the event was not representative of the number of people who have responded to his site and e-mailed.

He also argued that Letterman should have been fired, and the only reasons that he hasn't been fired were "the media's love of David Letterman and the media's distrust and, I believe, hatred of Sarah Palin."

He also called Letterman's apology - issued on Monday's program and accepted by Palin - bogus and said that the comedian should make a charitable donation to an organization of Palin's choosing.

Ziegler made a film about the 2008 presidential campaign called "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted."

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/16/art.letterman0616.gi.jpg caption="David Letterman faces a protest rally outside of his Ed Sullivan Theater despite having apologized for a self-admittedly 'coarse' joke."]NEW YORK (CNN) - Despite an apology Monday night from David Letterman, a protest rally outside of Letterman's Ed Sullivan Theater in New York will still go on as planned Tuesday, according to its organizer.

Political documentarian and conservative radio talk show host, John Ziegler, tells CNN that the point of the rally is to, "Raise awareness and get some sort of accountability."

He says that Letterman's apology, "Would have been fine had it come six days ago. This apology came seven days after the fact and his first apology was completely self serving." He added, "We think our voices should still be heard."

The protest is scheduled to take place as Letterman begins taping Tuesday's program. The group is angry over a joke the talk show host told related to the family of Sarah Palin.

Ziegler could not confirm how many of the more than 2,000 people he originally indicated would be attending had canceled. The rally's page on Facebook has approximately 200 confirmed guests. 1,383 have declined the invitation since the Letterman apology.

A significant number of the people who are attending list their residence as out of state.

Ziegler, who produced "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin was Targeted" is also promoting his upcoming film, "Blocking the Path to 9/11."

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/15/art.palinwave0615.gi.jpg caption="Late night TV talk show host David Letterman apologized to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the second time after a recent joke by Letterman stirred controversy."]
NEW YORK (CNN) - David Letterman delivered another, more repentant apology for the off-color joke he made last week about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter.

"It was kind of a coarse joke. There's no getting around it," Letterman said in the opening monologue of Monday night's show.

Letterman, who joked last Tuesday that Palin's "daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" at a recent Yankees game, still insisted he was referring to Palin's 18-year-old, Bristol, who gave birth to a boy in December, and not her 14-year-old, Willow.

Related video: Letterman's joke was 'perverted,' says Palin

Palin has called that a "weak, convenient excuse" for a joke that was"inappropriate" no matter which daughter was the target.

"My 14-year-old was there with me at the game. She was the only one there with me," Palin said.

Letterman said Monday night that he now realizes, "It doesn't make any difference what my intent was, it's the perception."

"As they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it's not a very good joke," he said. "I take full blame for that."

"I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed," he said.

"So, I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke," Letterman said. "I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future.

The controversy comes at a time the late-night ratings battle between the "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS and NBC's "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" is in the spotlight.

Letterman has gained ground in the two weeks since O'Brien took over hosting duties from Jay Leno.