http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/media/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000563244
NEW YORK — It was an “exclusive,” just as the front page boasted. The New York Post, however, became an object of ridicule Tuesday morning when its front-page report that Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., would be named running mate of presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, turned sour by 9 a.m. when Kerry actually picked Sen. John Edwards D-N.C. Copies of the paper are already available on eBay.
With the headline, “KERRY’S CHOICE” and a subhead declaring “Dem Picks Gephardt as VP candidate,” the “exclusive” story, which carried no byline and continued on to Page 4, claimed that the Post had learned that Gephardt would be announced as Kerry’s running mate Tuesday.
“It was thought that Kerry felt more comfortable with Gephardt than any of the other candidates,” the story stated. “He even said he would have supported Gephardt if he were not running himself.”
The Post had the story removed from its Web site shortly after Kerry’s announcement, replaced with a story on the Edwards pick. But the front page image on the NYPost.com home page had disappeared, briefly replaced with an image of Friday’s Page One story and later with an image of the paper’s Tuesday back page, which promotes the top sports story.