CNN Takes Swipe At Fox News Over Fake LAPD Jetpack Story

video

by Glenn Davis | 8:16 pm, October 5th, 2010

» 38 comments

Yesterday, Fox & Friends committed an embarrassing gaffe when it reported on a fake story that the Los Angeles Police Department was buying 10,000 of these jetpacks at a cost of $100,000 each. The “story” originated here. At least the jetpacks themselves are real.

Well, you had to figure it wouldn’t be long before someone in the media took a look at such a glaring error, and today, CNN’s Jeanne Moos delivered on The Situation Room. Wolf Blitzer teased the segment saying the story “had one major news network fooled,” but the mistake appeared to have CNN delighted. Moos especially reveled in the fact that Fox & Friends‘ source was the Weekly World News, and made several references to that publication’s most famous creation, Bat Boy.

Also of note: Moos working out that the total cost of the jetpacks would have been $1 billion on a whiteboard (her answer to this?); and the fact that there are apparently two such jetpacks currently in existence (the LAPD really would’ve regretted buying 10,000 in that case).

In fairness to Fox & Friends, though, they did correct themselves later in the show and admitted the LAPD hadn’t really bought any jetpacks – a correction Moos didn’t mention. Video of her segment below: watch it and marvel that the Weekly World News made it into the actual news cycle.

Update: Ms. Moos tells Mediaite that while she was crashing the piece for Situation Room, they didn’t realize that Fox News had made the admission. “Within minutes of crashing that version, we updated the piece to include the Fox admission.”

Fox & Friends, Jeanne Moos, jetpacks, The Situation Room, Weekly World News, Wolf Blitzer

The Real Royal King

FOX “News” gets its news from the Weekly World News? That explains so much.
TfT

CNN has been doing this a lot lately; tonight when I was watching JKUSA, he took a swipe at Beck again. Seems CNN is thinking that one other cable network about FNC isn’t enough, so CNN is going to start attacking FNC more and more. Then there will be two cable networks about the third cable network. Interesting tack…..like P/S it will fail.
The Real Royal King

Tomorrow, Il Douchey and Kilmeade will say they were just joking.
The Real Royal King

TfT said:
CNN has been doing this a lot lately; tonight when I was watching JKUSA, he took a swipe at Beck again. Seems CNN is thinking that one other cable network about FNC isn’t enough, so CNN is going to start attacking FNC more and more. Then there will be two cable networks about the third cable network. Interesting tack…..like P/S it will fail.

TfT: Just admit what a stupid thing Kilmeade and Il Douhcey did. All the Marys in Heaven! The Weekly World News! Without fact-checking. It’s fun. Get a tractor and pull that needle out of you *** . Enjoy! It’s seldom in life we’re treated to such grand stupidity.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Soya/1088592828 Shawn Soya

TfT said:
CNN has been doing this a lot lately; tonight when I was watching JKUSA, he took a swipe at Beck again. Seems CNN is thinking that one other cable network about FNC isn’t enough, so CNN is going to start attacking FNC more and more. Then there will be two cable networks about the third cable network. Interesting tack…..like P/S it will fail.

Right.
Like Fox NEVERRRR takes swipes at CNN or MSNBC

Please stop embarrassing yourself, dude.
LibertySister

Yeah they really got them…Boy CNN sure will get more viewers from that story.

I seem to remember not long ago a CNN reporter Lying about how flooded an area was by sitting in a canoe and telling everyone how horrible the water rose. Then she was caught onair when a guy walks past her canoe and its only 3 inches deep of water. Yeah CNN your have the moral ground there…
NeoKong

Fox got punked for sure but for Jeanne Moos to scoff at the idea of Los Angeles spending a billion dollars is laughable. They just built one police station last year that cost $437 millon dollars.

That’s for one building.
The Real Royal King

LibertySister said:
Yeah they really got them…Boy CNN sure will get more viewers from that story. I seem to remember not long ago a CNN reporter Lying about how flooded an area was by sitting in a canoe and telling everyone how horrible the water rose. Then she was caught onair when a guy walks past her canoe and its only 3 inches deep of water. Yeah CNN your have the moral ground there…

I love that logic. “Sure, we’re crappy liars, but so are you.”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Soya/1088592828 Shawn Soya

LibertySister said:
I seem to remember not long ago a CNN reporter Lying about how flooded an area was by sitting in a canoe and telling everyone how horrible the water rose. Then she was caught onair when a guy walks past her canoe and its only 3 inches deep of water. Yeah CNN your have the moral ground there…

It was NBC
And it was long ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRRMV_nDBt4&feature=player_embedded
LibertySister

Mediaite is drooling to swipe at Fox with two stupid jetpack storys.

But very little stories or investigation on the one nation rally last weekend. Thousands of pounds of trash, the Communist connection, more blacks people there then white… so would they be called raciest or is that bomb throw only for the tea party?
The Real Royal King

LibertySister said:
Mediaite is drooling to swipe at Fox with two stupid jetpack storys. But very little stories or investigation on the one nation rally last weekend. Thousands of pounds of trash, the Communist connection, more blacks people there then white… so would they be called raciest or is that bomb throw only for the tea party?

Wow! That is some disjointed, senseless crap. What is it you’re trying to say, and how is it related to stupidity in television news?
LibertySister

The Real Royal King says:
I love that logic. “Sure, we’re crappy liars, but so are you.”

…the difference is Fox didnt lie they were fooled,,, CNN Lied!
LibertySister

dont comment to me King…. you are not worth my time.
The Real Royal King

LibertySister said:
dont comment to me King…. you are not worth my time.

I have a couple of quarters left.
The Real Royal King

LibertySister said:
…the difference is Fox didnt lie they were fooled,,,

They didn’t fact check. That’s not being fooled. That’s being lazy and sloppy.
murf

The same CNN that SNL did a spoof of last year ? Being prone to reading prank emails on air ?
George C

The Real Royal King said:
I have a couple of quarters left.

You may want to save them for later , if you want to ride your wife .
Newsjunky

Fox News should not feel embarrassed by this incident in the least. They are not a news organization – they are an opinion network. Therefore they can take comfort in knowing that nobody holds them to any kind of journalistic standards or integrity.
CJ Daniels

This is a great story. The worlds only reliable source for news is picked up by Fox fair and balanced. I guess they are fair and balanced about whose stories they pick up. I can’t wait until CNN picks up one of http://www.weeklyworldnews.com stories and fox finds out!

Let the media wars begin and may WWN come out on top
Yoda002

Newsjunky said:
Fox News should not feel embarrassed by this incident in the least. They are not a news organization – they are an opinion network. Therefore they can take comfort in knowing that nobody holds them to any kind of journalistic standards or integrity.

But, the sad part is that people think that they’re a real news network.
Big_F-ing_Deal

LibertySister said:
Yeah they really got them…Boy CNN sure will get more viewers from that story.

I seem to remember not long ago a CNN reporter Lying about how flooded an area was by sitting in a canoe and telling everyone how horrible the water rose. Then she was caught onair when a guy walks past her canoe and its only 3 inches deep of water. Yeah CNN your have the moral ground there…

Yeah, it was NBC and we lefties had a good laugh about it because we don’t have a stick up our ass.
BatBoy

Note to CNN programming…

I realize the few viewers you currently have watching CNN love this stuff… There 10 – 12 regulars on this web site who droll over your material!

May I suggest you try reaching for views who do not currently like what you put out…there are millions of these folks out there in TV land…but I assure you, keep up with what you are doing now and suffer the consequences.

“Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
In a speech to be delivered by Barack Obama on or before March 31, 2012, Original quote from LBJ’s, 3/31/68 speech to the nation!
mardec

“In fairness to Fox & Friends, though, they did correct themselves later in the show and admitted the LAPD hadn’t really bought any jetpacks – a correction Moos didn’t mention. ”

SAYS IT ALL!
The Real Royal King

It’s actually a shame the FOX “News” viewers aren’t able to get a chuckle from this bit of absurdity. It’s always good to laugh and to laugh at oneself. This bit of stupidity deserves a good laugh.
TfT

Thanks for that tidbit mardec – I didn’t know they had corrected themselves.

You woulda thought that a journalist would have issued an update to their story here….but hey…..somethings never change.

So mardec is telling us the truth and that is CNN lied. How typical of CNN; sorry that mediaite didn’t have the courage, or didn’t do the right thing, and issue an update to their story.
TfT

My apologies to mediaite and apparently to CNN…..both of you provided the FNC correction.
The Real Royal King

TfT said:
Thanks for that tidbit mardec – I didn’t know they had corrected themselves. You woulda thought that a journalist would have issued an update to their story here….but hey…..somethings never change. So mardec is telling us the truth and that is CNN lied. How typical of CNN; sorry that mediaite didn’t have the courage, or didn’t do the right thing, and issue an update to their story.

You’d have more credibility if you contemporaneously criticized Gretchen O’Van Karlsen, Il Douchey and Jet Pack Kilmeade for their sloppy, unprofessional work.
Wonder Boy

If more news sources started taking things from Weekly World News then at least we would have some entertaining articles rather than hearing only about wars and the economic crises. Great reporting Frank, keep up the good work
Cancon2

It ranks right up there with Eason Jordons admissions about CNN in Iraq.
Greg

I would be interested to see how many folks are involved in the development and delivery of content for Fox and Friends. Considering the resources of a modern and major media organ, sizable staff with their associated salaries, it is amazing that such an obvious falsehood would pass unfiltered to bandwidth as truth. It is clear that anything that plays into their larger framing of “big spending” and “wasteful” liberals gets the go ahead without concern for journalistic standards… let the good times role.
Z_man723

Fox and Friends is a joke of a show. Those people are airheads.
http://www.uselessbeauty.com Vidiot

CNN did indeed issue the correction, and it’s included in the version of the piece on CNN.com. Perhaps that’s the update that Moos was referring to.

Besides, if Fox News were to go after CNN for the supposed lack of journalistic standards in not reporting Fox News’ kinda-not-forceful, incomplete walkback of a story they took from the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, without doing the most basic attempts at fact-checking or, y’know, actual journalism, then irony is officially dead.
EdAnger

Finally! The Chilean miners are saved … Pretty soon we will be saved from terrible politicians

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EdAnger

Already a fan of Weekly World News on Facebook?

Why not follow us on Twitter…

http://twitter.com/weeklyworldnews
EdAnger

Bat Boy: The Musical is heading to LA…

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/24823/bat-boy-the-musical-at-cathedral-high-in-l-a/
EdAnger

Prince William is making some shocking news.

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/25004/prince-william-to-marry-move-to-the-u-s/
http://twitter.com/bigetexansfan P.

Hahaha!! Just admit it, the FAUX and friends crew are a bunch of fucking morons. This isn’t their first time being made to look like total fucking morons. You’re comparing apples to Twinkies, you comparison is weak in pale to say the least. If they had simply “lied” they’d simply be par for the course and do what’s the norm for them. But they didn’t lie, they actually BELIEVED THE STORY! From Weekly World News of all places. In fact most aren’t shocked. This is probably their main source of news. So in this particular instance it’s not that they’re liars (even though they are in most other cases) they’re fucking morons.
http://twitter.com/bigetexansfan P.

LOL!! These fucking idiots. The FAUX & Friends crew are the clowns in the big top tent circus known as FAUX news channel. Their owner is a criminal the network is not news and simply a political mouth piece for the republican party, as well as the most disrespected network and butt of all jokes in the realm of journalism.