First, the New York Post reported that Caroline Kennedy had withdrawn her bid to be appointed to Hillary Clinton‘s vacant Senate seat. I didn’t read the original story, and at this point it has been updated, so it’s not clear what the original version was. Specifically, it’s not clear who they sourced the story to.

Then, the New York Times confirmed the story. Once again, the story has clearly been updated (although there is no acknowledgment to this effect), so it’s hard to say who they sourced the story to.

At some point, AP got into the act, first reporting that Kennedy had withdrawn, then that she hadn’t and then that she had. An AP news alert, time stamped 10:38 p.m. ET, said:

Source: Caroline Kennedy remains in contest to fill Hillary Clinton’s NY Senate seat. (Corrects APNewsAlert with source saying Kennedy had withdrawn.)

but now, like everyone else, they’re saying:

Caroline Kennedy withdrew from consideration for the U.S. Senate seat once held by her slain uncle, Bobby Kennedy, after a night of turmoil and uncertainty over her intentions.

It’s far from clear what actually happened. The New York Post and New York Times offer diametrically opposed explanations.

The Post offers the headline:

MAKES DECISION AFTER LEARNING SHE WASN’T GOING TO BE PICKED AS SENATOR

and goes on to say:

Sources close to Kennedy said she had decided to bow out for “personal” reasons.

But others said she made her move after it became clear Paterson wasn’t going to pick her for the seat.

Several sources said the governor, who has sole power to replace Clinton, was unimpressed with the daughter of John F. Kennedy in media interviews and in private sessions with various officials.

Two sources said Paterson had conveyed to Kennedy on Tuesday that she wasn’t likely to get picked.

The Times has it as:

Ms. Kennedy on Wednesday called Gov. David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, to inform him that she was no longer interested.
[...]
Ms. Kennedy did not elaborate, but a person who spoke to her suggested that her concerns about the health of her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer and was hospitalized after a seizure on Tuesday, contributed to her decision.

Ms. Kennedy believed that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said, but aides to Mr. Paterson would not comment on whether that was true.

Her decision appeared to catch the governor off guard, throwing the Paterson administration into confusion and setting off conflicting news media reports.

For what it’s worth, AP notes both explanations but sides with the Times.

(The last excerpt from the Times was edited at 7:27 am, to restore a paragraph that was inadvertently deleted originally.)