An apparent scoop from one of CNN’s star reporters has drawn a backlash from Syrians and raised concerns that media misinformation could undermine the testimonies of Assad regime victims.
Clarissa Ward, an award-winning correspondent for the US network, appeared to discover a prisoner in a regime jail while looking for missing American journalist, Austin Tice, in a report that aired on 11 December.
The prisoner, who identified himself as Adel Gharbal from the city of Homs, seemed overcome with emotion at being freed – mirroring scenes from across the country as thousands were liberated from brutal regime facilities as rebels took control.
The film received millions of views online and was shared by prominent public figures. Ward said: “In nearly 20 years as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have seen.”
But the clip also met with scepticism, particularly from Syrians. Filmmaker Hassan Akkad, who was imprisoned by the Assad regime, raised concerns such as the cell and the inmate appearing too clean, and that he was in unusually good condition.
On 15 December, Syrian media and fact-checking group, Verify-Sy, published an investigation casting doubt on the report titled “Did CNN Fabricate the Story of ‘Freeing a Prisoner from a Secret Jail.’”
The authors did not provide evidence of deliberate dishonesty by the network. But they claimed to have established the prisoner’s true identity through local sources: Salama Mohammad Salama aka Abu Hamza, a notorious thug for the regime’s intelligence services who was involved in numerous abuses. Sources said he was imprisoned over a “dispute over profit-sharing from extorted funds.”
The Verify-Sy account sparked an online backlash from Syrians against Ward and CNN.
“Syrians are closely monitoring every report published and will expose and challenge any narrative that misleads the audience and disrespects the suffering of real victims,” said Abdo Jabassini, a Syrian academic at the European University Institute in Italy.
“Clarissa Ward should resign or be sacked, and western media should learn lessons from the many Syrian journalists who have done amazing work under the most dangerous conditions,” posted Syrian author Robin Yassin-Kassab.
Critics noted other recent CNN missteps, such as a report by correspondent Nic Robertson from Gaza that repeated the Israeli military’s false claim that an Arabic-language calendar was a rota for Hamas militants guarding Israeli hostages.
The i paper understands Robertson was swiftly reassigned afterwards, and that there are internal concerns that controversies involving star reporters are casting a shadow over the network’s output.
CNN said its team in Syria acted with integrity and the incident was not a set-up, but acknowledged the prisoner could have been lying and said an investigation was ongoing.
“No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day,” a spokesperson said. “The events transpired as they appear in our film. The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard – a Syrian rebel.”
“We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution. We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story.”
Rami Magharbeh, a spokesperson from Verify-Sy, did not suggest the incident was deliberately fabricated but questioned CNN’s methods.
“We appreciate to have international reporters and outlets in Syria after decades of misinformation under regime control,” he told The i paper. “But the issue is the sources of information – they need to contact Syrian reporters.”
“We were surprised that an international media outlet like CNN fell for this kind of misinformation. Even before our investigation, it was clearly fake. Even children inside Syria would know the report is fake.”
Verify-Sy is working through dozens of reports and a flood of misinformation every day following the overthrow of Assad, Magharbeh said, some of which he believes is intended to obscure the regime’s crimes.
“We are facing a horrible situation about misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “We need to focus and highlight the facts, not just for the people but also for justice and accountability.”
“The Assad regime until now are trying to spread misinformation to say all the news is fake, and this is a real problem because we have prisons and people who have suffered for decades from this regime and we need to say the truth.”
Rami Jarrah, a Syrian journalist and former anti-regime activist, said there were broader issues with journalists being parachuted into countries during dramatic events without having detailed local knowledge
“Syria has a lot of context that does require a journalist covering it to have some understanding,” he said. “When Syria becomes a hot topic, like it has for the last three weeks, you get a lot of journalists covering matters that they don’t have much background on.”
“That’s OK – you can’t tell journalists they should not be involved. But fact-checking then becomes very important.”
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