By Whitney Webb | 12 July 2017
ANTI MEDIA — CNN is trying to distance itself from an al-Qaeda propagandist who helped the network create a documentary about the Syrian conflict. The man’s ties to the network are just the latest in a series of scandals that have dealt a blow to the network’s already tenuous grasp on credibility.
(MPN) — CNN has had a difficult few weeks, with scandals ranging from false reporting in order to boost ratings to blackmailing a private citizen who created a meme lampooning the network. As a result, CNN has seen a massive drop in its prime-time ratings, suggesting that its viewership is shrinking amid the controversy.
Now, yet another controversy for the embattled network has come to light in the making of its award-winning “Undercover in Syria” documentary.
The documentary revolves around CNN reporter Clarissa Ward’s “undercover” trip to extremist-held portions of Aleppo that pushed for Western intervention in Syria last year and placed the blame for the city’s suffering on the Russian, Syrian and Iranian governments. After the documentary aired, Ward was invited by then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to testify on her experiences in “rebel”-held Aleppo.
However, CNN hired a known member of the terror group al-Qaeda, Bilal Abdul Kareem, in order to obtain the on-the-ground footage used in the documentary and to assist Ward in gaining access to “rebel” territories, a feat that claimed the lives of other journalists. In addition, the network has recently sought to distance itself from its key source on the ground after the documentary started picking up awards.
Kareem, however, did not plan to have his key role in the making of the documentary go unnoticed. In June,he took to Twitter, writing that the “piece I filmed w/ CNN (Undercover in Syria) won Overseas Press Club & Peabody awards but CNN ‘forgot’ to mention me. But I’m smiling!” […]
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