FOX News Channel's on-screen text falsely suggested that the latest poll from The Pew Research Center for People and the Press shows President George W. Bush with a sizeable lead over Senator John Kerry among white Catholic voters; however, the opposite is true.

During the October 22 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, the on-screen text cited an outdated Pew poll conducted October 1-3, which found that white Catholics favored Bush over Kerry by a margin of 49 percent to 33 percent. Yet a more recent Pew poll conducted October 15-19 shows Kerry leading Bush among white Catholic voters, 50 percent to 43 percent.

Not only did the Hannity & Colmes on-screen text cite an outdated Pew poll, it also erroneously reported the poll's results, showing Bush with 42 percent to Kerry's 29 percent. Hannity & Colmes may have obtained these numbers from an October 12 New York Times article, which incorrectly reported the Pew results only three days after having issued a correction of an October 7 article that also misstated the results of the October 1-3 Pew poll. The first time the Times erred, the paper reported that Bush led Kerry 40 to 33; the second time, in the article which it appears Hannity & Colmes used, the Times reported that the poll showed Bush leading among white Catholics 42 to 29.

Hannity & Colmes also neglected to mention an ABC News poll conducted October 11-13 that showed a similar trend toward Kerry among white Catholics. After the presidential debates, Kerry went from a 36 percent favorable and 50 percent unfavorable personal rating to a 50 percent favorable and 41 percent unfavorable rating among white Catholics, while Bush's favorable-unfavorable difference of 29 points declined to “about even.” -- A.S.