Update: 3:29am - Scroll past the fold for some major caveats and clarifications based on info in the comments.
You've gotta love the accuracy of the trio of CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel. CNN & MSNBC are just as bad as fox at times. This moment just after 2am is one of those moments.
They are all reporting a 10 point lead for Hillary Clinton at 99% of precincts in when that is over a full percentage point off according to the actual results.
Pennsylvania SOS Results Site:
The actual results, right now:
With 98.91% reporting:
Clinton 54.3
Obama 45.7
So it's a single-digit victory for Clinton right now with just about 1% left to report, right? A 8.6% margin of victory for Clinton? Simple math, right? That's what you'd think.
According to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, you don't know how to do simple math. They're apparently glad to help you learn the new math.
UPDATE: There are comments that have shown a discrepancy between the State of PA reporting site and the county of Lancaster's reporting site, a pretty major discrepancy. This very well may be something, as some commenters have alluded to, that would explain the difference between the results being reported at the PA SOS website vs. the news net tickers and website articles. We'll see tomorrow as the numbers are finalized.
To be clear on one other thing, I am not making a claim of some vast conspiracy amongst the networks but rather one of poor journalism. I may be wrong on that observation if the numbers end up fixing themselves to support their current reporting. These are simply my observations at the current time of the reporting being done vs. the State of PA's reported results.
Right now on CNN's Ticker
Right now on MSNBC's Ticker
Right now on Fox News' Ticker
With 99% reporting:
Clinton 55
Obama 45
To that result, one has to take away .7 from Obama and give .7 to Clinton. Round up for Clinton to the whole number farthest away, Round down for Obama to the whole number farthest away. You can't even get that 55-45 number if you just drop the fractions. Do that and it's 54-45, still not accurate.
Clinton is up by 8.6 right now, not 10%. All 3 networks are changing the result by a swing of 1.4% right now and changing it from a single digit victory to a double digit victory.
I don't know how to do the screen captures off my tv so I went to their websites to see if the stories there match the ticker on tv.
MSNBC story here:
CNN story here:
Fox News story here:
If you go into their official results pages with the detailed numbers, you'll get the precisely accurate results at FoxNews.com but not at CNN.com or MSNBC.com. Both of the latter are reporting it 55-45 even in their detailed results while Fox has the precise result...but only if you go to the detailed results. The articles on each site nail it at 55-45. Nearly an hour after I first noticed this (it's now nearly 3am eastern) the tv tickers are still reporting exactly the same thing on all 3 channels, 99% reporting, 55-45 for Clinton.
Kudos to the misinformers at MSNBC, CNN, and FOX! There is still about 1% left to report but they've managed to change the result from a single-digit win to a double-digit win for Clinton. It's not. They're lying like usual but it's subtle enough that they're sticking with it and nobody will call them out on it because it's "obviously" such a tiny little thing that to point it out would just be nitpicking by the nitpickers.
Of course, in a way, it is nitpicking. But it's also pointing out that these organizations who most people depend on for election results, can't even be relied upon for the simplest of truths, the numbers themselves.