'Fox and Friends' falls for ruse alleging purchase of $1 billion of jetpacks for LAPD, Fire Department
It's a story that, by all accounts, shouldn't have flown.
Anchors at the Fox News national morning news show "Fox and Friends" reported Tuesday that the city of Los Angeles had ordered 10,000 jetpacks for its police and fire departments. The price tag: a whopping $100,000 per unit.
For those doing the math at home, the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles, which is regularly sending its police detectives home because it can't pay all their overtime, allegedly shelled out a billion dollars on space-age transportation that it has never used in an emergency situation, much less tested.
"We certainly haven't bought any jetpacks," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "We haven't bought [squad] cars for two years."
As Gawker.com was the first to note, the "Fox and Friends" report appeared to contain material taken right out of a story from the Weekly World News tabloid, which bills itself as "The World's Only Reliable New Source."
Apparently taking that slogan -- and ruse -- to heart, "Fox and Friends" reported that the jetpacks can reach speeds of 63 miles an hour and reach an altitude of 8,000 feet. And then came the questions.
Co-host Gretchen Carlson said that while she was "all for buying stuff up and helping the capitalism and all that" she wondered whether the costs would be prohibitive in a bad economy.
Brian Kilmeade wondered about possible safety issues.
“You gotta make up some rules,” Kilmeade said. “Because you’re going to have jetpacks flying into choppers!”
A short time later the hosts did an about-face, reporting that the LAPD was not buying the "Jetson's"-style transporters.
The media buzz around the jetpacks harkens back to the 1970s when then-chief Ed Davis caused a stir by declaring that he wanted the City Council to invest in submarines to track drug smugglers.
-- Andrew Blankstein
EDITOR'S PICKS:
I'm shocked. I thought they got their news from The Onion.
Posted by: patrick | October 05, 2010 at 05:16 PM
it is so hard to take FUAX as a legit news source, it really has been for some time now.
Posted by: stewart | October 05, 2010 at 05:30 PM
Yes, that about sums up the intelligence of "Fox and Friends."
Posted by: Mike | October 05, 2010 at 05:47 PM
He, he, he. I guess Fox, etc., has stopped using The Onion as a news source and gone to a competitor. Now, I can stop getting my news in the supermarket checkout line and turn to Fox. Right!
Posted by: Erwin | October 05, 2010 at 05:51 PM
Nobody gets paid to think over there, okay?
Posted by: Bob Boblaw | October 05, 2010 at 06:11 PM
This story made me spit out my water. "You could have jet packs flying into helicopters!!!"
Posted by: Cloud | October 05, 2010 at 06:14 PM
FOX=FAUX
Posted by: hf2hvit | October 05, 2010 at 06:55 PM
Ahahahaha!
Posted by: Clare | October 05, 2010 at 06:58 PM
Ha ha ha!!! Fox "News" ;)
Posted by: Jack Macapinilac | October 05, 2010 at 07:05 PM
Which brings me to my next point...Fox employs some brilliant people.
Posted by: Fox is funny | October 05, 2010 at 07:14 PM
Fox is full of airheads. This is really no surprise.
Posted by: DG3 | October 05, 2010 at 07:20 PM
Just more proof that Fox News doesn't actually, you know, check it's facts.
Posted by: AngelsDucksFan | October 05, 2010 at 09:21 PM
What's the difference between Fox "news" and The National Enquirer?
Posted by: william worrell | October 06, 2010 at 06:16 AM
Any responsible journalist should have seen this story as false. First, jet packs have a flight duration of about 30 seconds before running out of fuel and have no practical application in the real world. Second, there are only a few pilots in the entire world qualified to fly jet packs. Sure, wealthy people can purchase them from the few known "manufacturers" out there, but I have yet to see anyone except the same few pilots flying them at public events.
Posted by: Hungedu | October 06, 2010 at 08:38 AM
What's the diffrence between "Fox and Friends" and Joseph Goebbels?
Ans: Nothing, it was a trick question.
Posted by: Vox | October 06, 2010 at 09:08 AM
That's one of the problems with our society today. The news channels no longer report the "news." It's all just entertainment now. Fox news (along with all the other news channels) is just out for ratings (and following the money!), and wouldn't know the "truth" on a subject if it bit them in the ass.
Posted by: Mike | October 06, 2010 at 09:37 AM
This is the FAKE NEWS CHANNEL that the Tea Party says is ALWAYS reliable and honest in their news reporting!!
LOL...FOX FAKE NEWS STRIKES AGAIN!!
Posted by: Mr. Z | October 06, 2010 at 11:29 AM
At least it would help the capitalism and all that.
Posted by: Bones | October 06, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Goes to Show that Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck get their "facts" from the same source. They all need to wear "bubble head" blond wigs.
Posted by: Dermot Ryan | October 06, 2010 at 11:47 AM
How can they spin this against Obama?
Posted by: danglerzx | October 06, 2010 at 11:55 AM
"The World's Only Reliable New Source" meets "Fair And Balanced" and they
are equally true.
Posted by: d.r. | October 06, 2010 at 12:33 PM
Nerd ALERT!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Public Servant54 | October 06, 2010 at 12:35 PM
What? You can't trust Fox News? O tempora! O mores!
Posted by: jad | October 06, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Coming from the guys that said that Al-Qaeda is training monkeys to attack us? Tell me why I am not surprised....
Posted by: Enrique | October 06, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Gretchen Carlson said that while she was "all for buying stuff up and helping the capitalism and all that". Somebody please tell me she doesn't take a paycheck. Sounds just like that Miss Teen America contestant a few years ago: "The Iraq". Priceless.
Posted by: John Sweeney | October 06, 2010 at 12:40 PM