Not all reporters are created equal at Invesco Field, where Barack Obama is about to close out the Democratic National Convention. John Koblin at the Observer printed a seating chart (left) and gave a rundown on the winners and losers. It looks like the Obama campaign continues to snub the New Yorker for its controversial parody cover, sitting the magazine's correspondents in worse seats than Jezebel/Glamour (team Megan!), the Nation and the New Republic. More delightfully, the campaign totally dissed those conssumate insiders at Vanity Fair, "which is stuck in the back row in Section J" behind basically everyone except the Gotham tabloids. Ha ha, I guess the entire free world is not actually obsessed with getting into the Waverly or your damned Oscar party, Graydon Carter! After the jump, early chatter among reporters, plus a list of seating winners.

Winners:

  • The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post — they get 50-yard-line seats. It's noteworthy the Journal wasn't made to pay for its rabidly right-wing editorial page. Likely explanation: Murdoch is an "Obahh-mer" booster these days.
  • Megan Carpentier, at the convention on behalf of Glamour and Jezebel (and formerly of Wonkette!). "One very pleased writer, Carpentier... couldn't be happier to be a few seats closer to the front of the podium than Mother Jones' David Corn and Portfolio's Matt Cooper, both writers sitting to her left... 'This is amazing! It's so completely random."
  • Politico. Parity with Time and ahead of the New Yorker and New Republic is not at all bad for an 18-month-old publication.

From the press box, via Jezebel's liveblog:

9:00 ET: Michael McDonald is killing the crowd, and not in a good way. Most common journalist question: "Who the hell is that guy?" The New York Times David Carr comes in with the assist from down the row: Doobie brothers.

[Observer]