The AP Had It Right The First Time

by Todd Beeton [courtesy of MyDD]

Earlier this afternoon, "A housing issue: McCain not sure how many they own" was the top headline on Yahoo's front page. The opening paragraphs of the linked AP article were pure gold, proof that Obama and the blogs had successfully driven the narrative today:

Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states -- Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.

The article was credited to "DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer."

Cut to a few hours later. Now, clicking the link that was attached to the original story takes you to a different story altogether, a more recent one credited to "MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer" whose headline reads

Obama raps McCain for ignorance of his own houses

and instead begins:

John McCain may have created his own housing crisis. Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn't know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, Democratic rival Barack Obama launched a national TV ad and a series of campaign stops aimed at portraying McCain as wealthy and out of touch.

With the economy ranking as the top issue in the race, Obama sought to turn McCain's gaffe into one of those symbolic moments that stick in voters' minds.

Think John Kerry sailboarding or the first President Bush wowed by a grocery store checkout scanner, Michael Dukakis riding in a tank or Gerald Ford eating a tamale with the husk still on.

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico when asked Wednesday how many houses he owns. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

Not all bad, of course, but not as sweet from a narrative perspective as the original version (which you can read in its entirety on NewsVine HERE.) You'll notice that the first reference to John McCain's "$5 million" comment comes in the 6th paragraph, not in the first. Linking the $5 million dollar comment and the fact that McCain doesn't know how many homes he has was central to Obama's messaging today. The AP seems to have made an editorial decision to back away from reinforcing that.

I've heard of stories being updated, but how common is it for a  story to be updated to such a degree that both the headline and the writer are changed but the link stays the same?

If you do quote the article, use the original, again found at Newsvine HERE.