Cablers Rush Reports Of Anthrax

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is not happy with cable news coverage of the D.C. anthrax scare earlier this week.

“On Tuesday afternoon, cable channels CNN and Fox News reported, apparently based on unnamed sources, that scientific testing confirmed that anthrax was found in Pentagon mail facilities in suburban Washington,” Newsday reports. “Those reports appeared to be wrong, however. And they came despite Homeland Security officials repeatedly telling reporters throughout the day that they still didn’t know whether they were dealing with anthrax.”

“I know there is an enormous drive…in getting a fast answer to things,” Chertoff told reporters. But: “What I want to resist is…a temptation to feed the desire for information by putting something out that we are not in a position to speak about definitively.”