eric rochow : social media handyman

A blogger writes that the Clinton campaign plans to report that Borack Obama attended a muslim school as a child, and it runs through the media for 10 days. Its disproven,
but it still gets discussed, now in articles about how blogs can spread false news.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Barack Obama hardly could have anticipated that the first minor media crisis of his presidential bid would involve where he went to school at age 7.

The Illinois Democrat’s welcome into the world of modern campaign coverage last week offers lessons for both candidates and reporters on the marathon run until November 2008. And it’s undoubtedly a sign of things to come.

Chances are ”about 100 percent” that a candidate will be ruined by a story that he or she hasn’t anticipated, said ABC News political reporter Jake Tapper.

Stories seemingly trivial or even untrue will appear instantly and reverberate madly through the media. Candidates most skillful in anticipating them and reacting swiftly will have a big advantage.

A magazine article’s charge that Obama had attended a radical Islamic school while living in Indonesia as a boy was spread on blogs and, most prominently, on Fox News Channel.

Other news organizations sent reporters who learned the school in Jakarta was public and secular and has long accepted students of all faiths. CNN’s Anderson Cooper seemed to relish sticking the knife in a rival. ”That’s the difference between talking about news and reporting it,” he said. ”You send a reporter, check the facts and you decide at home.”

McCain seems to nod off and its on YouTube.

Politicians aren’t going to let themselves be seen doing anything anymore:

One can also see Senator Kennedy allegedly sleep as well: