Fri, Jul 16, 2004 11:57am ET

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FOX News Channel teaser misrepresented Kerry's position on same-sex marriage

Throughout the day on July 14, FOX News Channel aired a teaser for Hannity & Colmes that misrepresented Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) position on same-sex marriage.

The text of the teaser was published (and can still be viewed) on FOXNews.com's Hannity & Colmes page, under the title "Guests and Topics: July 14":

The same-sex marriage debate has been heating up in Congress and on the campaign trail this week. Sen. John Kerry has been slamming President Bush's position on the controversial issue... So why won't he take a stand on the issue? Is Kerry dodging the issue so that he can court voters?

Kerry opposed the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage -- an amendment the U.S. Senate defeated in a procedural vote on July 14. That position was widely reported: for example, by the Associated Press here; by The Washington Post here; by CBS here; by The Washington Times here; and by The New York Times here. Kerry reiterated his opposition to the amendment in a July 14 statement: "[H]ad this amendment reached a final vote, I would have voted against it, because I believe that the American people deserve better than this from their leaders."

Despite the FOX News Channel teaser advertising Hannity & Colmes's discussion of Kerry's position on same-sex marriage -- and despite the Senate's defeat of the federal marriage amendment earlier that day -- the July 14 edition of Hannity & Colmes did not address the topic of same-sex marriage. Neither FOX News Channel nor Hannity & Colmes provided a reason for the programming change.

—A.S.

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