Is it true that this CNN report about the attacks in Israel was staged?

A video has spread across the Internet in which a voiceover dictates to a reporter and cameraman of an American television channel how to behave during recording to make the footage look more impressive. We have verified the authenticity of this video.

As reported in a number of Telegram channels, a video with the original sound of one of the CNN reports from the border areas of Israel, where Hamas militants invaded on October 7, was leaked onto the Internet. In the one and a half minute video, the sounds of shelling can be heard, shells are exploding somewhere nearby, and all this time a certain person in English tells the cameraman and journalist where to run, where to lie, how to hold the camera, what to say, etc. The authors of viral publications claim that this is a typical production of Western media to “form public opinion.”

With a similar commentary, the video was distributed by Russian-language Telegram channels, in particular “Chinese connection"(308,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Ostashko! Important"(114,000), "Cat Kostyan"(88,000), "Bocharik (yep, that same one)"(81,000), "Rogandar News" (50,000) and "War zone"(43,000).

Found himself at the epicenter of history reportage CNN international correspondent Clarissa Ward, who along with her film crew was forced to seek shelter during a massive rocket attack near the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip on October 9. The report was published on CNN resources in two versions: abbreviated And expanded. The filming turned out to be really action-packed: the journalists had to jump into a roadside ditch to protect themselves from potential shrapnel. In the broadcast version, of course, there are no instructor commands - as follows from publications in Telegram channels, only CNN employees should have heard them. But in the leaked version, these instructions speak for themselves: “Okay, Jerry, tell the cameraman to keep Clarice in the frame,” “Look around, Jerry, look around like you're in danger,” “Okay, this is beautiful, this is the money shot,” “Can you increase the volume of these explosions?”

At first glance, the oral recommendations of a certain instructor look harmonious in combination with the video, but there are several important circumstances.

Firstly, this was a direct broadcast by a journalist, and not a pre-edited program. It is technically extremely difficult to carry out such a production live, because at any moment an awkward pause may occur due to misunderstanding or another mistake may occur. If the actors know their roles so poorly that the instructor has to conduct every movement, then such experiments are not suitable for live broadcasting. In the original video from CNN news anchor John Berman is heard in the studio gets in touch with Clarissa Ward and at that moment it is discovered that she and her colleagues have taken refuge in a ditch.

Secondly, the very presence of a video recording combined with an audio briefing track looks strange. If the members of the film crew received any secret instructions through their headphones, it clearly should not have been recorded and edited with the on-air video.

In Google Street View you can see place, from where the report was made: at the intersection of two highways south of the Israeli border town of Sderot, became one of the main targets of Hamas attacks. The militants also visited the indicated section of the route — hence the numerous burnt-out cars in the frame. 9 October Israeli Armed Forces carried out clearing the area in the Sderot area, there were battles here, so the situation in which CNN reporters found themselves does not look surprising.

As in the earliest publications on the social network X (formerly Twitter), thanks to which the one-and-a-half minute video with the alleged instruction went viral, and in other posts with this audio (but not the original from CNN), you can see The Quartering logo in the upper left corner of the image.

The account of the same name was first, who posted this version of the video on October 11 at 01:07 Moscow time with the caption “CNN caught staging an attack on camera in Israel!” Also posted in the comments link for the full 14-minute video on The Quartering's YouTube channel. According to the description, the channel explores topics in the gaming industry, comics and the world in general, and also deals with “edgy jokes.” The account, which has about 1.5 million subscribers, belongs to Jeremy Hambly - American blogger known for his right-wing views and love of conspiracy theories. Hambly, a supporter of former US President Donald Trump, often criticizes his eternal opponents, CNN journalists (the politician himself previously accused TV channel in spreading fake news). So in the above-mentioned 14-minute video, the blogger reflects on CNN’s working methods and calls the report a fake. Nevertheless, about an hour after publication in X, a comment from The Quartering, which said that "of course the voiceover isn't real." The blogger, however, does not doubt the staged nature of the report, but does not provide any evidence.

In response to a request from Associated Press reporters, CNN spokeswoman Emily Kuhn stated, that the audio recording was “fabricated, inaccurate and recklessly distorts the reality of the moment as it was broadcast live.”

Thus, an edited video from an American blogger was distributed on Telegram channels, who admitted the deliberate overlay of an audio track that had nothing to do with the report on the original CNN video.

Cover photo: CNN screenshot

Fake

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