Check out this unbiased headline from Comcast.net

[Orrex]

Atty.: Gov. Tried to Sell Obama Sen. Seat

Not "Obama's Sen. Seat," but "Obama Sen. Seat," as though Blagojevich tried to sell an open seat to Obama.

Slick.

The article itself leads off with the headline Illinois Gov. Arrested on Corruption Charges, but the link from the Comcast home page makes it sound as though Obama is implicated.

On edit: Whoops! Fixed link!

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. That's the way all the media whores are playing it.

Sick motherfuckers. :grr:

[grantcart]

3. Uh actually its the Governor of Illinois that's a sick whore

[Orrex]

6. It's hardly an either/or proposition

[JuniperLea]

2. Obama must be in the Democrat party...

Slick is right.

[onenote]

4. I'm sorry, but that's a real stretch

Obama was just elected president. No one (well, apparently almost no one) reading that would think that Obama was trying to buy a senate seat. They'd think that it was "the Obama seat" that was being sold (just like its the "Clinton seat" that is vacant.

I've yet to see one story about this that does not make it absolutely clear that they are talking about Blago's effort to sell the seat to Obama's successor.

[Orrex]

5. Not at all

The implication is that Begojevitch tried to sell Obama the Senate seat previously.

I have never heard anyone in legitimate media refer to "the Clinton seat" when describing a vacating Senate post; it is invariably described as "the vacant seat" or "Clinton's seat" or "the seat formerly held by Sen. Clinton."

If you can link to an example of the usage you describe, please do so.

[onenote]

7. here are a few "the obama seat" references

From Reuters: "Some of the people mentioned for the Obama seat include Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois department of Veteran Affairs. She is an Iraq war veteran who unsuccessfully sought a seat in the House of Representatives two years ago." http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081113/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_senate

From ABC News: "A group of Chicago clergymen is urging the governor to appoint an African-American to the Obama seat." (This is in a story headlined "Jockeying continues for Obama Senate Seat"
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=6519449

And here's a hillary example, from sydicated columnist Jules Witcover:
"With Mario now 76 and in retirement from active politics, the family ambition is carried by his son, a young man of ambition and sharp elbows whose appointment to the Hillary Clinton seat would doubtless ruffle the feathers of New York contemporaries with eyes on the same prize."
http://staugustine.com/stories/120208/opinions_120208_016.shtml

I'm pretty sure Jules Witcover, Reuters, and ABC News all fit the definition of "legitimate media" and they all seem to be referring to a vacant seat as "the (name) seat".

[Orrex]

8. I stand corrected. Thank you.

Perhaps it's because of the additional complication of Begojevitch's corruption charges, but the Comcast headline really jarred me.

Regardless, I can hardly dispute your examples. Thank you.

[onenote]

10. no problem-o

[T Wolf]

9. But we are talking about zero-attention-span Amerika here. All they will see is the headline and

take away the message Comcast is pushing.

People who actually read the whole story will learn the truth, but that is always the case.

The complaint is with the framing of the headline.

For Comcast - mission accomplished.

[onenote]

11. why would that be Comcast's mission? They were a big Obama supporter

Despite the fact that McCain has been a major player in telecommunications regulation (as a member of the Commerce Committee and as chairman of the Telecom Subcommittee at one time), OpenSecrets shows that Obama received over $120,000 in contributions from those working for Comcast, compared to less than $60K to McCain. In fact, one of my contributions (and not a small one) was made as part of a bundling effort led by a senior Comcast executive that I used to work with when we both had other jobs.