March 04, 2010 12:18 AM UTC

UPDATE: Udall Has NOT Signed Public Option Letter

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• by: Colorado Pols

Clarifying a post from Colorado Pols user sxp151, though the error certainly isn’t his/her fault. From The Spot:

In introducing a segment on the possibility that the public option may be revived through the reconciliation process in the Senate, Rachel Maddow announced last night that Sen. Mark Udall was the latest lawmaker to sign a letter to Harry Reid supporting the idea.

That perhaps was not surprising, since the blog Colorado Pols had been reporting it all day, sending out a tweet announcing the news. They apparently got it from the DailyKos, an influential liberal blog, whose scribes have been following the number of signers closely – a metric of just how close the Senate might be to reviving the possibility of a government-run insurance option as part of comprehensive health care reform.

Problem is, it’s not true.

Udall hasn’t signed the letter. And has said several times he doesn’t intend to.

How it gets reported as fact on the Rachel Maddow Show, the popular program on MSNBC, is an object lesson in the way that blogs pick up and report information – and the sometimes blurry line between political activism, spin, and journalism.

Denver Post reporter Mike Riley does a good job of tracking how this story got a little twisted by the time it ended up here on Colorado Pols, where it was promoted by Front Page Editor Middle of the Road. Not a huge deal, since we can quickly point out a correction here, but a good reminder for everyone to check the nuances of the situation before assigning a headline that might not fit the truth.