CNN's Cooper says Fox's Hannity distorted words

[April 27, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- CNN's Anderson Cooper says Fox News Channel took his words out of context to make a false point about media bias.

Cooper, on his CNN show, noted that he was quoted in last week's Sean Hannity special on media bias. Fox aired a clip of Cooper saying that a former U.S. ambassador in Africa, Joseph Wilson, was "the victim of a Bush administration smear campaign."

Cooper says that if Fox aired his full report, it was clear he was reporting Wilson's claim of a smear campaign -- not saying it himself.

Cooper says that he tries to choose his words carefully. He doesn't like it "when someone cuts around them to make it seem like I'm saying something that I'm not."

Hannity's executive producer, John Finley, had no comment Tuesday.

[Associated Press]

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