ASHINGTON - House Republicans, saying television networks were biased toward Al Gore in declaring his victory in several states, urged an inquiry into election night coverage yesterday and promised hearings.
The GOP lawmakers said early reports that Gore had won in certain states could have discouraged Republican voter turnout, and even upset the final outcome in Florida.
Representative W.J. Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana, said he would hold hearings in a telecommunications panel he chairs.
''There was a presumption of bias in the reporting, and that the networks will have a duty, when they do come before us in our hearing, to overcome that presumption,'' he said at a news conference.
Democrats, including the telecommunications panel's top Democrat, Representative Edward Markey of Malden, said the actions were partisan and would undermine the free press.
''It will create a chilling effect on the news media if Congress sends investigators into the heart of newsrooms to determine how decisions are made to call individual states on election night,'' Markey said. ''I think the Republicans are mistaking timing for content.''
Markey said he plans to introduce legislation to prevent early calls by creating a national standard time for closing polls. Closing polls simultaneously would avoid giving voters advance knowledge of how others voted, he said.
The bill, which passed the House last year but failed in the Senate, seeks to overcome differences in time zones by extending the daylight savings date by a few weeks during election years, according to Markey.
Tauzin, joined by Representative Christopher Cox, Republican of California, announced the hearings would take place in December, when Congress reconvenes for a lame-duck session, or early next year.
Tauzin, who is vying for a Commerce Committee chairmanship, said he planned to call the CEOs of the parent companies of the networks to get a ''full airing'' of the night's events.
In the states where Gore won by 6 percent or more, the calls were ''immediately'' made in his favor, Tauzin said. In nine states where Bush appeared to lead, the networks delayed, he said.
Meanwhile, CNN chairman Tom Johnson told Tauzin the network news channel had launched an internal inquiry into the missteps in its election-night coverage, the Associated Press reported. But he said, ''as chairman of CNN, I state categorically there was no intentional bias in the election night reporting.''
At issue is that evening's vote tally in Florida, which the major television networks had called for Gore shy of 8 p.m. EST last Tuesday. Hours later, the networks recanted, saying it was too close to call. The calls were based on projections by Voter News Service, a group of networks and the Associated Press.
