The fact of Obama's multiple composite characters was not presented as a revelation in the Poynter post. Mention was made of them via an email by a Politico editor who seemed to say such usages in the book were fine because Obama had written in the introduction that he used 'composites.'
5/3/12, "How Politico can fix its mistake about Obama book," Poynter.org, Craig Silverman
"Gregg Birnbaum, a deputy managing editor at Politico and Byer’s editor, replied to my emailed questions to Byers to note the news element of the girlfriend revelation.
“While Obama had written in the introduction to ‘Dreams’ that he used composite characters, he didn’t indicate in the book who those composite characters were,” he wrote. “It had never before been revealed until Wednesday that the New York girlfriend was one of those composites.”"...
Craig Silverman, Poynter, continuing: "Wemple also points to comments on the Politico post that show how the mistake led to accusations that Obama is a liar (and far worse). This false narrative is probably not going to go away. It will be pushed by people who want to discredit Obama, and it will likely soon be taken as gospel by those inclined to disbelieve the president." (2nd parag. below Drudge screen shot).
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Ed. note: I appreciate the focus of the Poynter piece was the topic of getting facts right. What underlies the post is a deep concern for Obama, and how terrible it would be if someone was "inclined to disbelieve the president." The author apparently thinks Obama is normally believable. If that is the case, Obama is quite lucky to have such an advocate in the 'accuracy' business.
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Too bad the media didn't either didn't examine Obama's book or were fine that Obama used multiple composite characters in an autobiography that made him a millionaire set for life. Who makes extensive use of this kind of device in an autobiography unless it's intended to deceive? Silverman is not concerned with this, or if he is doesn't say so. Many people don't necessarily read introductions or don't automatically think I better check the introduction to see if the autobiography will be using fake characters for effect. In other cases, the media salivates to dissect every detail about the person:
Above, cartons of Sarah Palin emails examined by microscope by media, 6/10/11.
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UK reporters did fact checking their US counterparts refused to do:
Some UK Times reporters actually read Obama's book in which he mentioned his beloved Aunt Zeituni, did some reporting, then reported what they found. The US media either wasn't curious enough to read the book, didn't want to report about it, or looked into it and decided to keep silent. The UK Times reporters' work was dismissed by the Obama campaign as Republican propaganda. The portion below was copied on 11/3/08 by blogs including Sweetness and Light. (Since this article was published on 11/3/08, the UK Times has become a subscription site).
11/3/2008, "How The Times followed a trail to find Barack Obama’s aunt," UK Times, Ben Macintyre and James Bone in Boston
"The trail that led to “Aunt Zeituni”, the relative of Barack Obama who was traced by The Times last week, started with Mr Obama’s memoir, one of the most widely read political autobiographies of all time.
The Democrat campaign has implied that the story might have come from Republican sources – “the American people are … pretty suspicious of things that are dumped in the marketplace 72 hours before a campaign,” said Mr Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod yesterday.
In fact, the story came from a book that has been read by millions, including just about everyone connected to the Obama campaign.
Dreams From My Father was first published in 1995, and the story of how Mr Obama returned to Kenya in 1988 to trace his roots has become the cornerstone of his political biography. Yet the US media appears to have overlooked the passage indicating that at least one relative of Mr Obama’s had moved to America and might still be there.
Two thirds of the way through the book Mr Obama’s half-sister talked about Africans who had emigrated to the West and were never heard of again, “like our Uncle Omar, in Boston . . . They’ve been lost, you see”.
A few pages later Mr Obama meets his step-grandmother, Sarah, for the first time in the village of Kogelo. On the walls of her hut are photographs of Omar, “the uncle who had left for America 25 years ago and never came back”. Touchingly, she asks the future presidential candidate if he has any news of Omar, her son and Mr Obama’s half-uncle.
“She asked if I had seen him, and I had to say no,” Mr Obama wrote. “She grunted something in Luo, then started to gather up our cups. ‘She says when you see him, you should tell him she wants nothing from him,’ Auma [Mr Obama’s half-sister] whispered. ‘Only that he should come visit his mother’.”
These brief references appeared to indicate that Omar Obama might have moved to the US in the mid-1960s, at about the same time that his half-brother, Barack Hussein Obama Senior, went to Hawaii, where he met Ann Dunham, the mother of Mr Obama.
Those intriguing passages in Mr Obama’s book were first investigated by The Times during a visit to Kenya in September to interview members of the family, including “Granny Sarah”. Inquiries as to the current whereabouts of Omar elicited only vague responses – and even the suggestion, from a full brother of the missing man, that no such person existed.
This triggered a six-week search, one that would lead eventually to Boston and to Aunt Zeituni. Public record searches found traces of O. Onyango Obama, Uncle Omar’s real name, in Boston. A friend and a former landlady said that he now uses the name Obama Onyango.
In the course of searching for Uncle Omar The Times found a Zeituni Onyango, who also played a prominent part in Mr Obama’s book.
In the memoir Auntie Zeituni, Uncle Omar’s sister, explained the family’s complex family tree to the future presidential candidate, introduced him to other relatives and fed him a herbal remedy for an upset stomach.
At that time Auntie Zeituni had been working at Kenya Breweries. Inquiries about her whereabouts also met a blank response from the family, however.
The Times called the Zeituni Onyango in Boston three times. The first time a woman said that she “went to California”. The second time a woman said: “She died last summer.” The third time a woman said in French that she did not know her at that address.
On visiting the housing estate, however, neighbours confirmed that she was indeed the “Auntie Zeituni” in Mr Obama’s book – as she eventually confirmed herself.
Uncle Omar has still not been found.
- [Uncle Omar has since been found also in Massachusetts. Ed.]
It was not until Wednesday evening that The Times obtained a formal identification of Ms Onyango by George Hussein, Mr Obama’s half-brother who had known her throughout his childhood.
Whatever the Democrat campaign may imply, there is nothing suspicious about the story or its timing. The only mystery, perhaps, is how so many people read Mr Obama’s book in the US without wondering what might have happened to the mysterious relative, lost in America.
- [It’s what used to be called journalism. S&L ed.]
The Times called the Zeituni Onyango in Boston three times. The first time a woman said that she “went to California”. The second time a woman said: “She died last summer.” The third time a woman said in French that she did not know her at that address."...
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I copied 2 of the comments to the UK Times article on 11/2/08:
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"Thank You for your investigative reporting! The reporters in America are too far in the bag for Obama to look for anything negative in his past. A Thankful American
Dawn, N READING, USA"
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"Go figure. It wasn't a Republican conspiracy after all. Good job Times on your wonderful reporting. It is good to see that there are still media outlets out there that still do real reporting, unlike 95% of the media in the US. Cheers.
- Gunner, St. Louis, USA"
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