Ben Smith has some splaining to do

[Chiefofland]

On December 16th, Politico's Ben Smith stated the following: "Michael Sneed reports that Rahm appears on "21 different taped conversations" regarding Obama's vacant seat."

But if you follow the link Smith provided, you will see that Sneed, a conservative New York Sun columnist (not news reporter) and Sarah Palin supporter, did not actually "report" this "fact". She simply claimed that she "heard rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!

As you can clearly see, Sneed spoke about "rumbles", aka rumors/gossip by unnamed sources, which have now been contradicted by Obama's review of the contacts his staff made with Blagojevich. And when you say that something "reportedly" happened, you mean that someone other than yourself reported it. So Smith's claim that Sneed "reported" anything is absolutely false. She reported that an unidentified person reported the allegation.

Email Smith: [e-mail]

[firedupdem]

1. Politico is going down the drain. It's just about unreadable now..n/t

[anigbrowl]

2. I'll repost this at internetpedantry.com, I'm sure they'll be interested

[Renew Deal]

3. The New York Sun isn't even in print anymore.

So the person isn't even a Sun columnest.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Recommended....(nt)

[Luminous Animal]

5. That would be Chicago Sun-Times

political gossip columnist. And the link to Politico.. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/21_calls.html

[Chiefofland]

6. Thanks

I got the wrong "Sun". Thanks to all who noted this. I tried to edit my original post but it's too late. The main point remains unchanged though.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

7. Oh my God, you mean blogs don't maintain the highest jouranlistic standards?

Whoever would have guessed.

[librechik]

8. thanks for this, Chief--and wecome to DU!

:hi: