WP ombudsman: Enough About Obama's Loan

[DeepModem Mom]

More Story Than a Loan Merited
By Deborah Howell
Sunday, July 13, 2008; Page B06

Returning from vacation, I found many complaints from readers -- more than 1,700 comments online -- who saw unfairness and negativity in a July 2 story on Page A3 by national reporter Joe Stephens on a discounted mortgage rate for Sen. Barack Obama's home....

Stephens reported from documents off Obama's Web site that Obama and his wife, Michelle, locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on a $1.32 million, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage from Northern Trust of Chicago when they bought their $1.65 million Chicago home. He paid no discount points or origination fee. The deal offered the Obamas saved them about $300 a month on their mortgage payment. The average interest rate in Chicago on smaller mortgages in June 2005 was between 5.93 and 6 percent, the story said, and it noted that modest adjustments in mortgage rates are common when financial institutions compete for a borrower's business.

Readers also objected to the story's prominent mention of controversial mortgage loans given two other senators and a prominent Obama supporter by the troubled Countrywide Financial Corp. James Duemer of Potsdam, N.Y., said that "the inclusion of information in the story about Countrywide is irrelevant: the Obamas got their loan from Northern Trust. The rhetorical purpose of the details about Countrywide is to create an appearance that the Obamas got a special deal because Mr. Obama is a senator."

Of the seven financial and mortgage experts I talked to, three were former reporters. The reporters thought the rate was low enough to merit a story. Financial experts who weren't journalists thought the rate was normal and something that any other wealthy, smart borrower might have gotten....

***

Readers deserve to know everything pertinent The Post can find out about Barack Obama and John McCain's finances. In that context and in the context of the home mortgage crisis, the story had news value. McCain doesn't have any mortgages, due to his wife's wealth; that's not uncommon for rich people, I'm told. Still, the story had a negative cast to it. It also lacked the important context that other wealthy and savvy borrowers could have done as well under similar circumstances.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102547.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Skittles]

1. Ms. Howell apparently didn't get the memo n/t