AP/IPSOS has released new national poll numbers today.

AP reports it as:

"The poll shows Obama leading Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination, 46 percent to 41 percent."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iP6ao euUCqIEo5DHDOCMLHyUOCpgD8UO8R400

ONLY ONE TINY PROBLEM.  THAT'S NOT THE ACTUAL POLL RESULTS.

IPSOS provides the numbers and it shows:

CLINTON leading OBAMA 46%-41%.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/client/act_ dsp_pdf.cfm?name=mr080211-3topline.pdf&a mp;id=3813

This FALSE AP story is being picked up and run in local papers and trumpeted on the blogs.  Mark Halperin at thepage.time.com heralds the numbers on his page.  It seems in this case numbers can lie when you want them to.

Ahhh, the status of journalism today.

NOTE: HALPERIN HAS NOW CORRECTED THE NUMBERS.

UPDATED: Ben Smith at the Politico is confirming our initial report. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Margin_for_error.html

UPDATED X 2: A google news search reveals hundreds of media outlets running the WRONG numbers from AP. A few are now correcting. Hard to have a fair fight when the media won't even correctly report poll numbers.

UPDATED X 3: SUCCESS! AP has finally corrected the story. Despite that hundreds of media outlets, local and international, are still running the false numbers.

An example: The Guardian is running, "A poll for the Associated Press yesterday indicated the turn in fortunes, with Obama on 46% against Clinton's 41%."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/12/barackobama.hillaryclinton

There are many other examples. I continue to email news outlets pointing out the error.

UPDATED X4: Thanks to everyone who sent this diary to media outlets everywhere. A review of local papers and media, show that most are now running the proper numbers. Unfortunately, many voters will receive the wrong poll numbers from the Auburn Citizen to the Jackson Hole Star-Tribune to the Boston Globe to KITV Hawaii and the Times West Virginia and beyond.

A FEW THOUGHTS:
The campaign for the Democratic nomination is at a crucial point. Barack Obama's campaign is hoping their momentum will carry them to wins in Ohio and Texas, thus cinching the nomination. It's irresponsible for media outlets to run "Obama leads national polls" stories when they are misreporting the numbers of the poll that they are using to justify the story. The wrong numbers from AP are being reported in hundreds of newspapers, radio stations and tv reports across the country. At a crucial point in the nomination process, that story performs a disservice to voters.