Fox Terrorizes its Audience w/Non-Story About an "Empty Tube" Found Near Newark Airport

News Hounds
Monday July 23, 2007

The third segment today (July 20, ,2007) on Your World w/Neil Cavuto (an alleged "business news" program), began with substitute host David Asman saying this:

Well, quite a scare today in New Jersey. A piece of a missile launcher that was found near a major airport. Now the police are saying the piece itself didn't pose a threat but just now easy are these things to get and are the nations airports, particularly the big ones, like Newark, in danger? Let's ask Michael Baker. He's a former CIA operative who is also a terror expert. Mike, first of all, how easy is it to get these things?
A somber Asman turned to Baker and the following chyron appeared in the bottom third: "Feds Probing Missile Launcher Part Found Near NJ Airport." Baker, who was laughing, began with:

Well, it's not as easy as just going to New Jersey and picking one up off the lawn. I mean, this could qualify as the strangest story of the week. Ah, people should be reassured, this was a 20-year-old piece of ordinance.
Turns out (1) that the missile had already been fired, (2) the launcher was a one-use type so it couldn't be reloaded or reused, and (3) it was too small a caliber to bring down an airplane.

At the end of the segment Asman asked Baker, "How nervous should we be?" Baker, who smiled and was very lighthearted throughout said, "Ah, in this situation, we shouldn't be nervous. We're in good shape."

Comment: At 1:30 p.m. EDT, two and a half hours before Asman went live, NJ.com posted this article, informing its readers that the FBI said the launcher was "harmless," and that, "FBI spokesman Sean Quinn said the launcher found by a homeowner in front of her house was essentially an empty tube. 'There was no threat.'" Being the fascist enabler that it is, Fox knew that but it decided to use this as one of its lead stories and to terrorize its audience anyway.