CNN Investigating Identity of Prisoner Reporter Clarissa Ward ‘Freed’ During Broadcast

CNN (Lean Left bias) is investigating the identity of a “prisoner” its correspondent Clarissa Ward helped liberate during a broadcast after a report emerged that the man is a Syrian intelligence officer.

The Details: During a segment that aired on December 11, Ward, accompanied by a Syrian rebel fighter, opens a cell in a prison where she is surprised to find a man in the cell covered in a blanket. Ward, a veteran reporter, called it “one of the most extraordinary moments” she has witnessed in her career. The prisoner claimed to be named Adel Gharbal and said he was arrested three months prior for having his phone searched.

Fact Check: A report from Syrian fact checker Verify-Sy, which is part of Poynter Institute’s (Center bias) International Fact-Checker Network, found the man to actually be Abu Hamza, a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence. Verify-Sy reported speaking to locals, who said Hamza was recently incarcerated for less than a month for “a dispute over profit-sharing from extorted funds with a higher-ranking officer.”

Key Quotes: CNN told The New York Post (Lean Right bias), “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.”

How the Media Covered It: Before Verify-Sy’s report was published, some commentators like Glenn Greenwald (Center bias) and users on X questioned if the segment was staged or inauthentic. The Grayzone (Left bias) noted Verify-Sy’s standing with Poynter, and how Poynter is funded by donors like George Soros and the National Endowment for Democracy. The New York Post highlighted Verify-Sy’s reports that Hamza had “killed civilians” and tortured “numerous” others “without cause.”