CNN is Accused of Staging the Release of a Syrian Prisoner. Bonus: The Guy They 'Freed' Was a Top Government Torturer.

Alex Wong. Getty Images.

These are tough times for Journos in general, and CNN in particular. Public trust in the profession has never been lower. CNN's ratings are down by roughly half since the election didn't go the way they were telling their viewers it would. And cable providers across the country are talking about breaking up and selling some of their news outlets rather than keep supporting networks that draw a fraction of the audience of, say, a YouTube news channel or decent podcast. 

And so, as they try to navigate a path back to something approximating respectability, it appeared CNN had a dramatic exclusive on their hands. The sort of boots-on-the-ground reporting that made them a recognizable brand around the globe. A real life human drama being played out live for their cameras and their reporter alone. They were there, at the scene, as a prisoner of the recently deposed regime in Syria was drawing his first breaths as a free man in years:

Although many had questions about the veracity of this. The whole thing did feel a little … artificial. The prisoner looked in pretty good shape for a guy being held against his will by a brutal, totalitarian dictator. He didn't appear to have skipped too many meals. His nails were pretty well manicured. His hair and beard were on point. He seemed less like a guy who was sound asleep and didn't hear them blow the lock and come in than he did Ferris Bueller popping out of bed the minute his parents leave. The acting was about on a par with a middle school production of The Grapes of Wrath. In fact, it felt so obviously staged, the best defense for CNN is that they would never release anything so blatantly phony if it wasn't actually legitimate. I mean, they're not that desperate for relevance, right? 

Apparently, wrong. 

NY Post - The prisoner CNN helped free from a secret facility in Syria was actually a notorious member of Bashar al-Assad’s forces known to torture those who refused to pay him off, according to a shocking local fact check.

The network went viral last week with footage of the startled prisoner being led from the prison by journalist Clarissa Ward, who called it “one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” in her 20 years of reporting.

But “independent and unbiased” fact-checkers Verify-Sy published a detailed report Sunday saying that the seemingly innocent prisoner was actually Salama Mohammad Salama — a first lieutenant in Syrian air force intelligence with a long history of alleged war crimes.

And now that they've been exposed for this fiction, the network is copping to it. Though they're also pleading ignorance:

CNN - When he emerged into the open air, the man appeared bewildered. Questioned by the rebel fighter who freed him, the man identified himself as Adel Ghurbal from the central Syrian city of Homs.     …

An image obtained by CNN on Monday now points to the man’s real identity – said to be a lieutenant in the Assad regime’s Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Salama Mohammad Salama.     

A resident of the Bayada neighborhood in Homs gave CNN a photograph said to be of the same man while he was on duty, in what appears to be a government office. Facial recognition software provided a match of more than 99 percent with the man CNN met in the Damascus prison cell.

Well, OK then. This wasn't a staged event, with everybody involved in on the gag just to produce some dramatic footage to feed the cable news 24 hour cycle. CNN themselves was the victim of a hoax or something. A humiliation they could've avoided with five minutes of actual journalism. Asking around. Checking their sources. Making use of a simple facial recognition app. 

But hey. That's the reporting business for ya. You win some, you lose some. It could've happened to anyone, right? 

Once again, apparently wrong. There's a history here. In fact, there's a history with this particular Journo. Unless you really do believe Clarissa Ward was giving reports while taking cover from live rounds in the middle of a battle:

So she's either the world's greatest foreign correspondent, the Ernie Pyle of the 21st century, or she's the most unconvincing crisis actor the world has ever known. And absolutely shameless in her pursuit of air time. And someone who would never let truth get in the way of a good story. 

Based on CNN's own admission, I guess we can say it's the latter. What it says about them, that they'd go along with this horseshit and destroy what little credibility they have left, is for viewers to decide. If they have any left. 

To me, this goes back to something I once heard Michael Chricton talk about, "The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect." You read something in the newspaper (kids, ask Siri what a "newspaper" is) that you know is wrong, because what they're talking about it your area of expertise. But then you go ahead and keep reading the rest of the paper, assuming they get everything else right. When what you should realize is that when they'll lie about one thing, they'll lie about everything. Even faking the release of a political prisoner who just happens to be the very guy who tortures political prisoners for a living.