Footage showing CNN journalists taking shelter from rockets near the Israel-Gaza border has been altered to include a fake audio directing them to stage their coverage.
“DEVELOPING: CNN got caught faking an attack from Hamas in Israel”. Read a post on platform X, formerly known as Twitter that was reshared 4,643 times at the time of writing. The altered video was also shared on Facebook to claim that the CNN team orchestrated the attack.
The video shows a CNN news team going off the road on foot and falling to the ground. It contained a voiceover of a man’s voice appearing to guide the crew. “Look round as if you’re in danger, try to look nice and scared,” he says, among other similar statements.
A spokesperson for CNN claims in an email that the audio in the clip online is fake.
The original footage, which shows CNN’s Clarissa Ward and her team taking shelter from rockets while covering the ongoing conflict, does not feature any such voiceover.
The clip on social media bears a watermark for a website called “The Quartering”. It describes itself as a news and content organization on X and a “social commentary channel” on YouTube. The Quartering’s X account said in a reply to its original video that the voiceover is fake.
The altered video circulated online after a surprise attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7 triggered one of the deadliest clashes in 75 years of conflict, killing at least 1,200 in Israel and 900 Palestinians, Reuters reported.
VERDICT
Altered. A fabricated voiceover was added to footage of CNN journalists covering the Israel-Hamas war.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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