Giuliani rips bogus reports


New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani Friday slammed the media for not checking
their facts and putting out false reports about the rescue effort at the World
Trade Center.

He cited false reports that a potential survivor had
called people by cell phone, and a dozen or more people were trapped alive in a

Many outlets reported that five firefighters had been found alive buried in
an SUV, which turned out to be false.

Giuliani said that false reports of survivors can play with the emotions of people with missing family and send rescue workers on fruitless chases.

'Some of it can be very dangerous and emotionally damaging,' he said.

Other errors aired last week. ABC, MSNBC and Fox
reported that a car bomb exploded outside the State Department in Washington.

CNN apoligized for identifying Adnan Bukhari, of Vero Beach, Fla., as a
suspected pilot of one of the hijacked planes when, indeed, he was still in

When police detained 10 people at New York airports Thursday night, stations widely and falsely reported that some were armed with knives.

In Baltimore, WBFF-TV asserted that local men believed to be 'mid-level players' in the attacks were being questioned that night by local police, though police said they told the station's repoter beforehand that he had bad information and the men were merely questioned and dismissed. - John M. Higgins