Reuters Calls Obama OSAMA!

I was shocked when I woke up this morning and read this article from Reuters.  

Towards the end of the article it says, "The New York senator dismissed Osama's criticism over the economy..."  They aren't talking about Osama Bin Laden.  They're talking about our Obama!  How do we write to Reuters to complain?

From matthewcc:

They called him "Osama" THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.

Once is a typo. THREE TIMES is not a typo.

"...three weeks as her best hope to stop Osama's surge."

"We believe it's next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count," said David Poufs, Osama's campaign manager.

"The New York senator dismissed Osama's criticism over the economy"

RA, you should include all 3 times so its clear this isn't a once-off typo.

Done.

•  I am shocked! n/t

  by RA on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:43:19 AM PDT

  •  Get used to it

    We're going to hear it a lot over the next nine years.

    by Tracker on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:16:51 AM PDT

    •  Unless it is not tolerated

      by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:36:40 AM PDT

      •  Not tolerated? By whom?

        The networks and news agencies don't care if they piss us off.  Outrage? Just means more eyes on the screen.  

        Most people I know have no idea about telecom immunity.    But they know Obama's middle name.  

        by Tracker on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:34:47 AM PDT

        •  by you

          I particularly liked this one from last year:

          I'm not your Momma
          I'm not Osama
          I'm Barack Obama

          by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 08:31:59 AM PDT

  •  Yes, get used to it.

    On a related note:

    I usually have my TV muted with closed captions on.

    Apparently we still have a ways to go before voice-recognition software is perfected.

    How did "Obama" get spelled yesterday (think it was on CNN):

    "Owe Bah Ma"

    Well, at least not as bad as "Video Music Awards" a few years ago:

    "Video Muse-Ache Awards"

    by rdbaker43 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:25:16 AM PDT

    •  That's not bad

      Video Muse-Ache Awards

      That's not bad, its correct!

      by discocarp on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:43:35 AM PDT

•  Leno did it as well

  Last night.

  by B P Pgh on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:44:57 AM PDT

  •  I heard that. What did you think?

    I tend to think it was accidental, but he seemed to realize it right away when he said it. Which means nothing, but usually when I misspeak, I don't even realize it. I just don't know. He seemed embarrassed, I guess.

    by MariaSquared on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:52:56 AM PDT

    •  S isn't anywhere near B on the keyboard!

      Whoever typed this article must have had Osama on their mind, because the letter "s" isn't anywhere near the letter "b" on the keyboard. This should rule out the innocent typo answer.

      Besides, it happened twice in the same article:

      "We believe it's next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count," said David Poufs, Osama's campaign manager.

      and

      The New York senator dismissed Osama's criticism over the economy

      It makes you wonder if this article got proof-read.

      Did you notice that they also incorrectly spelled the name of Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe? (They spelled it Poufs).

      Reuters is gonna get lots of flack over this, and rightly so. A major news organization like them should be expected to have the highest of standards when it comes to writing and proofreading.

      As a result of this error, this article is likely to get a lot more readers than it normally would - and I think that's okay, as it will help remind readers of Obama's 8 straight victories and his lead in pledged delegates.

      GO OBAMA!

      by keenekarl on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:41:46 AM PDT

      •  3 times -nt-

        by discocarp on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:44:02 AM PDT

      •  3 times!

        In reading the article again, I realized I missed this one that appeared earlier in the article:

        While Obama campaigned in Wisconsin, which votes next week, Clinton focused on contests in the heavily populated states of Ohio and Texas in three weeks as her best hope to stop Osama's surge.

        If we rookies can find 3 mistakes in one or two readings, what's going on with the professional writers and proofreader's?

        I wonder if Leno will jump on this tonight to show that he isn't the only one who's made this mistake?

        by keenekarl on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:52:45 AM PDT

        •  holy crap

          There's no way that was an accident.  You don't have 3 accidents (plus "David Poufs") in one article.  

          Find the author, make him go on television and beat himself with a cat-o-nine tails.  End.  

          by sophically on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:03:24 AM PDT

  •  Speaking out loud...

    ... is very different than writing news copy... and I should know, because I'll spend my morning doing the latter.

    by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:56:13 AM PDT

    •  Yes that's certainly true.

      On balance I feel inclined to cut Leno some slack but it was very shocking to hear it said out loud like that.

      by MariaSquared on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:00:02 AM PDT

    •  how much money a year does Leno make for

      speaking out loud?

      Is he good at it?  Or could anybody do it?

      by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:20:29 AM PDT

  •  Leno's pig...

    a lot of racist humor against his band guy, who just laughs in disgusting enabling way.

    Leno does shift a bit, so was all gung ho bush and anti-dems until war went south and bush polls in 30s.

    But still, underlying... he'a a pig.

    by DrSteveB on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:15:50 AM PDT

•  3 times

  I don't think that gets a pass as a mistake.

  by discocarp on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:45:28 AM PDT

  •  I wonder if they have their spellchecker

    customized to where it contains "Osama" and not "Obama". Anytime Obama is used it would try to correct it as "Osama".

    Either way, given that Obama is a presidential candidate there is no excuse for this.

    by Spathiphyllum on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:29:46 AM PDT

    •  Furthermore

      Both "Obama" and "Osama" appear in that article. That makes the spell checker error less likely.

      by discocarp on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:41:14 AM PDT

•  Why didn't you include...

  ...waterboarding in the poll?  It's legal, ya know...

  by Ken in MN on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:46:36 AM PDT

•  It's the damn spellcheck probably

  Seriously, it's absurd. Everytime I spellcheck a document in Word that has the name "Obama" in it that happens.  It's probably an accident. Damn Microsoft products. That said, they obviously should be more cautious.

  by Dont Just Stand There on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:47:41 AM PDT

  •  You cannot tell me that they haven't added

    Obama to the spellcheck dictionary yet. Not believing that one.

    by alasmoses on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:50:30 AM PDT

    •  asdf

      My spellcheck doesn't recognize words like "homophobia" or "Scientology."

      Heh. My spellcheck is like the German government... it doesn't recognize Scientology.

      by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:57:14 AM PDT

      •  my spellcheck did not either until I added it

        to its dictionary. I got tired of it stopping on Obama after a week or so. I added his name and forgot about it.

        by alasmoses on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:00:37 AM PDT

        •  That wouldn't entirely solve the problem.

          Because if Obama and Osama were both in the dictionary, then it wouldn't come up.

          They really should take out Osama if they want to avoid this. Then any time either of them come up, someone has to check that they're referring to correct name.

          I mentioned the Brian/brain thing. We actually took brain out of spellcheck, so that it would raise a flag.

          by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:15:56 AM PDT

        •  Mine does try to change it

          sadly from Obama to, well, you know....

          Even Ted Kennedy screwed it up once in public.

          by Dont Just Stand There on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:18:21 AM PDT

      •  asdf II

        When I use the word 'mountaineer' (as I am wont to do when writing on Appalachian history), Word's spell-check offers up 'mooonshiner' as a possible substitute. Who programs these damned things anyway?

        by va dare on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:01:21 AM PDT

        •  Oops - that's 'moonshiner' n/t

          by va dare on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:01:50 AM PDT

        •  What's the difference?

          ;-)

          by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:02:04 AM PDT

        •  I adore running spellcheck ...

          to see what alternatives they offer for proper names. Always gives me a chuckle.

          by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:16:31 AM PDT

  •  Why the hell

    is OSAMA in Microsoft spellcheck, again?

    by o the umanity on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:52:06 AM PDT

  •  Heh...I should have read further down

    I was thinking the same thing when I posted a reply above.

    by Spathiphyllum on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:31:08 AM PDT

  •  I have the same problem

    Microsoft's Word spell check always tries to change 'Obama' into 'Osama'.

    by DAVE DIAL on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:36:18 AM PDT

•  I didn't even realize they called him Osama 3X!

  Good catch.

  by RA on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:48:42 AM PDT

  •  This was a reply to discocarp.

    I clicked the wrong link to reply...oh well.  :)

    by RA on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:52:24 AM PDT

    •  I see it

      No harm, no foul. :)

      by discocarp on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:05:49 AM PDT

•  asdf

  I've nearly made the same mistake multiple times. But a Reuters story, by the time it gets on the wire, has had many different sets of eyes on it. It's something that should have been caught.

  by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:48:45 AM PDT

  •  Now's the time to make the line

    Common errors will not be tolerated.

    by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:34:20 AM PDT

  •  My son

    My son has been a huge Obama fan(and one of the main reasons I started looking at him) for a long time.

    He said he went to a Dave Chappelle show and Dave said when he first heard about Barack Obama he said 'Black Osama? I ain't voting for no Black Osama!'. My son thought it was hilarious.

    I think if we take it more light-hearted and we might be a little better off.

    Let them know the problem, but let's not go crazy over it.

    :-)

    by DAVE DIAL on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:45:05 AM PDT

•  I tried e-mailing the reporter yesterday

  when I first saw the story online.

  The online version at Reuters.com now has the corrected names, but I wonder how long it took for them to catch it?

  by QuestionableSanity on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:49:17 AM PDT

  •  The last reference still says Osama.

    Sigh.

    by PhantomFly on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:51:01 AM PDT

  •  I just read and printed out the article today

    and it still had all 3 errors in it.

    That seems to be a long time to let an article run with such an embarrassing error.

    I see that the article was based on reports from 3 reporters, but was written by David Alexander and edited by David Wissler. I'm assuming that Alexander wrote it with the error and that Wissler failed to catch it in editing. Sloppy work there fellas!

    by keenekarl on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:03:21 AM PDT

•  As most know on this site

  I am a rabid Hillary supporter.But I find myself defending Obama over and over.People believe that Obamas name is Osama.They dont know the difference. They are ignorant and watch Jerry Springer.Hopefully they dont vote.

  by kayfromsouth on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:52:58 AM PDT

  •  People can be confused

    professional media can fan the confusion.

    by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:31:22 AM PDT

•  As a former copy editor ...

  I just can't get too angry at this, because stupid mistakes happen. Oh, believe me, they happen.

  But this is one they really should watch for. It's an easy mistake to make In typing, we tend to go for our frequently used words, and I'm' sure Reuters reporters have been typing Osama quite a lot in the past 7 years.

  It's like Brian and brain. Happens all the time, but when it is something of this level of importance, they should keep an eye out.

  by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:53:59 AM PDT

  •  Good point but....

    ...they've also been spelling Obama a lot lately. If it happened 3 times and nobody caught it, they really suck as copyeditors....and for that they should profusely and abjectly apologize.

    by MariaSquared on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:57:36 AM PDT

    •  asdf

      They've been spelling both quite a bit, and this would add to the confusion, not make it better.

      Besides, copy editors don't apologize. We issue corrections. ;-)

      by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:59:06 AM PDT

      •  LOL. Istand corrected. nt.

        by MariaSquared on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:01:17 AM PDT

      •  This is February 14

        if the fuss starts here the
        confusion stops here

        I know it was so hard to catch the Bush / Lush confusion but they got that under control.

        by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:30:15 AM PDT

    •  I'm not excusing ...

      more wincing internally for them.

      by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:12:20 AM PDT

  •  Yup

    I'm a copy editor as well. A co-worker one misspelled the name of the paper we work for!

    by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:58:16 AM PDT

    •  We had someone ...

      include Gannet in a headline. And yes, I did work for a Gannett paper at the time. :)

      And my bosses would "check" the paper after I left for the morning and sometimes make changes. They rewrote one of my headlines on the fly and put 991 in place of 911.

      by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:18:52 AM PDT

•  The Link

  This is the closest thing I could identify. I sent an email identifying the mistake and requested they correct it immediately.

  http://reuters-en.custhelp.com/...

  by smartdemmg on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:55:43 AM PDT

•  Just ignore it....

  .. It was probably a mistake.. Making a fuss just creates more noise.  

  by RationalMan on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:58:31 AM PDT

  •  just ignore it

    Keep the powder dry
    He promised it wouldn't happen again
    He's so sorry.

    by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:27:29 AM PDT

•  It is his name

  If anyone believes this is the last time an HONEST mistake is going to be made you need to think again.  His real name is Barry Hussein Obama and this is going to be used a lot in the very near future.  Instead of being angry over the reference, we need to find a way to defuse the issue.  By claiming racial or other mean spirited tactics only adds more fuel to the fire.  His name is what his name is and it is not going to change so someone in the Obama camp is going to have to figure out to get his real name out there in public discourse, and for all and the sooner the better.

  by sbieller on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 05:59:19 AM PDT

  •  "Barry" is a nickname

    Barack Hussein Obama is his birth certificate name.

    by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:03:38 AM PDT

•  I'm thinking spell-check, look at David Poufs

  I'm leaning toward spellcheck gone wild. When two proper names are botched in one sentence, it's usually spellcheck. Rodney comes up as Rodent, etc.

  I mean they wouldn't have been going for the two-fer and gay slurred the campaign manager as well, would they?

  If something can be explained by incompetence easier than malevolence, assume it's incompetence.

  by bad dad on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:00:12 AM PDT

  •  Rodney comes up as Rodent

    Funny stuff!

    by Dont Just Stand There on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:20:52 AM PDT

•  Question

  Was the mistake in the first reference, or in a second reference?

  by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:00:21 AM PDT

•  OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!!

  by bugscuffle on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:01:11 AM PDT

•  PS:

  Also, slander is spoken. In print, it's called libel. ;-)

  by droogie6655321 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:01:33 AM PDT

•  The thing is

  With all this centralized news reporting, it makes mistakes like this really difficult to fix.  These articles have been cut and pasted a billion times since this article went up a 19 hours ago.  

  The more centralized the news gets, the more quickly misinformation travels- and we already know how fast lies travel.  

  by otto on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:08:44 AM PDT

  •  I'm sure some papers caught and corrected.

    You're talking an awfully small paper if it's running raw wire copy.

    by Magenta on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:20:05 AM PDT

  •  It happens all the time.

    Bush is always being typed Lush.

    Get used to it.

    by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:25:18 AM PDT

    •  Yeah, but how is that a mistake?

      Just saying...

      :)

      by catnap1972 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:16:41 AM PDT

      •  I was being snarky

        this stuff makes me crazy
        they are very calculating in keeping the masses confused and scared
        Jay f**ing Leno for dog's sake.

        by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:34:23 AM PDT

•  CNN did it recently too

  One of the daytime newsreaders said "Osama" in reference to "Obama".

  by machiado on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:09:48 AM PDT

•  A type-o,

  nothing more.  The entire article was correct.  If there was an intention to smear, the title of the article would have had his name spelled incorrectly.

  by nupstateny on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:11:50 AM PDT

  •  THREE TIMES??

    They called him "Osama" THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.

    Once is a typo. THREE TIMES is not a typo.

    1. "...three weeks as her best hope to stop Osama's surge."

    2. "We believe it's next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count," said David Poufs, Osama's campaign manager.

    3. "The New York senator dismissed Osama's criticism over the economy"

    RA, you should include all 3 times so its clear this isn't a once-off typo.

    by matthewcc on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:21:26 AM PDT

  •  The abuser starts out with little pinches

    and escalates if there is acquiesence.

    by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:23:04 AM PDT

•  This is just the start...

  It will continue as I predicted...sadly

  by dvogel001 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:14:26 AM PDT

•  If Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden

  gets you all confused
  that could explain why it has taken a while
  bring him back dead or alive

  The 12th of Never, and that's a long, long time.

  My fluffy little head is all hurty an stuff.

  by 88kathy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:19:02 AM PDT

•  Spellcheck would necessarily catch this

  by bten on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:28:15 AM PDT

  •  wouldn't

    by bten on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:28:37 AM PDT

•  On CNN, Osama is Obama too...

  on Wolf Blitzer's program, pictured Bin Laden and asked: Where's Obama?

  by Great Uncle Bulgaria on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:30:26 AM PDT

•  Contact the editor...

  here's a link I found that enables one to leave feedback to the editors at Reuters:

  javascript:commonPopup('http://reuters-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/reuters_en.cfg/php/enduser/site_fdbck .php',640,390,1,'feedback')

  I think you might have to cut and paste the whole thing, but maybe not.

  by lalo456987 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:33:23 AM PDT

•  CNN flashes Osama picture right after Obama

  on numerous occasions including during the voting returns for the Potomac (VA, ME, DC) and several days before that in the Situation Room.  They are still showing it cuz it's a "joke".

  by Great Uncle Bulgaria on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:34:41 AM PDT

•  We say Obama, they say Osama

  Come November, we'll call the whole (GOP) thing off.

  by jvantin1 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 06:35:44 AM PDT

•  It's nothing compared to Obama = Hitler, tho

  http://mediamatters.org/...

  That was one of the most bone chilling things I've heard yet this year.  

  by sophically on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 07:18:31 AM PDT