MSNBC’s new info blog listed a couple of job postings today. Both wanted candidates to have strong knowledge of progressive news. The very idea that MSNBC is looking for political editors whose knowledge of progressive news matters, but knowledge of conservative news apparently does not matter, seems to run entirely counter to what NBC News professes to be about.

The New York Times‘ Media Decoder blog raised an interesting possibility today – MSNBC.com, the NBC/Microsoft co-owned news site, may be re-branding itself as…something else, in an attempt to distance itself from the cable news channel of the same name.

We learned in August that Spike Lee would be helming MSNBC’s latest ad campaign. Now, Lee’s first two commercial spots have been posted online. The ads are slick and upbeat, implying the news network’s progressive stance without overtly declaring a political stance.

The Washington Post and MSNBC.com are running identical stories about a new report from a former CIA member that calls al-Qaeda leaders “determined and patient, willing to wait for years to acquire the kind of weapons that could inflict widespread casualties.” The terrorists are “pursuing parallel paths to acquiring weapons and forging alliances with groups that can offer resources and expertise.” Is this news?

Rep. Joe Wilson‘s outburst of “You lie” at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress Wednesday has created quite a media stir, and the way that this story unfolds reveal a lot about the health care debate and the odds for a bipartisan solution. But not everyone seems to feel that this is a lead story. Let’s take a look at how the websites for the cable news networks chose to cover the story:

In what many considered to be a shocking and embarrassing breach of decorum, a Republican House Member, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted “You lie” at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress Wednesday. Democrats AND Republicans were quick to call out his eruption (bipartisanship at last!), and Wilson himself was quick to issue an apology. But on the strange world of the Internet, Joe Wilson’s scene appears to have made him an instant hero.

Yesterday, MSNBC.com announced its plans to buy EveryBlock, an upstart young website that aggregates newspaper articles, blog posts, Flickr photos, and public records: so-called “hyper-local coverage” in fifteen cities. Could this spell out yet more bad news for newspapers.

News reporters like to catch readers’ attention with a few zingy lines at the start of an article. Sometimes, these so-called “ledes” go horribly wrong. In Today’s Worst News Ledes, we highlight some of the biggest offenders: 3. “From Starpulse, “Celebrities We’d Like to See in a Sex Tape:”