CNN has taken aim at a ‘fabricated, inaccurate’ viral video that claims war correspondent Clarissa Ward staged to take cover in a ditch.
Ward was forced to duck for cover earlier this week when a barrage of rockets flew overhead as she reported from near the Israel-Gaza border.
While the journalist was praised by many for her brave reporting from the front lines, a fictional video parodied the moment, claiming she was faking the danger for the cameras.
“The audio in the video posted and shared on X is fabricated, inaccurate and irresponsibly distorts the reality of the moment covered live on CNN, which people should fully watch for themselves on a trusted platform,” said a CNN spokesperson said. New York Post.
CNN’s Clarissa Ward broadcast live from a trench near the border to the Gaza Strip after being forced to take cover amid rocket fire
The reporter described a ‘valley’ of rocket fire overhead just moments before she began broadcasting live from Israel
The footage of Ward running for cover was among many poignant moments captured by journalists on the ground since the conflict broke out a week ago, including Fox News’ Trey Yingst who reported from inside Israel’s ‘house of horrors’ .
Ward, along with several members of her team in bulletproof vests, scrambled into a roadside ditch seconds after they heard rockets overhead.
She was seen face down in the trench when a man in her team indicated that the rockets were being stopped by Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’.
The Iron Dome is Israel’s land-based defense system that intercepts rockets and mortars.
‘Get off! Then, then, then,’ said the man. “I’m fine, you’re okay…it’s the Iron Dome.”
Addressing her news anchor, Ward said, “Forgive the inelegant position, but we just had a massive barrage of rockets come in here not too far from us, so we had to take shelter here on the side of the road.”
‘We’re only about five minutes away, Gaza is in that direction. We can hear many beams in the sky now, we can also hear the iron dome intercepting a number of those rockets as they whizzed overhead and made impact.’
Ward added that the location is “ground zero” for the Hamas militia where terror fighters are “spraying lead” from a van down the street.
But Ward’s reporting was parodied by The Quartering, which brands itself as a “news and content organization” but admitted to using fake audio dubbed over Ward’s original footage.
In the fake footage, which has been viewed more than five million times X (formerly Twitter), audio intended to sound like a CNN producer began: ‘Yes, we can see the area is completely deserted, but I want you to get them off the road.’
“Let them lay down by the side of the road, okay?” adds the voice, as one of Ward’s team members is seen on a phone call.
The footage continues to joke about the situation, including instructing Ward to look ‘pretty and scared’ for the cameras.
In a follow-up tweet, the fake news account admitted that ‘yeah, of course the voiceover isn’t real’, but insisted that Ward’s ‘fake acting IS real’.
Despite the sound clearly manipulated, with Snoops the first to deny it, the video went viral with many viewers apparently believing it to be legit.
‘Merkava’ tanks gather today at a gathering point at an undisclosed location along the border with Gaza
The fake video row comes as the conflict in the Middle East escalates into the weekend, with Israel preparing a significant ground assault after bombing the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ attack a week ago.
Israel has warned more than one million residents to flee the region, prompting fleeing Palestinians to desperately try to escape.
The war-torn region was given a 24-hour deadline to escape to the south of the area, which was then extended as Gazans tried to flee the area via two main roads.
Hamas terrorists have urged civilians to ignore the evacuation order and some are refusing to leave, with Mahmoud Shalabi – director of Medical Assistance for Palestinians – saying ‘no place is safe in Gaza’ and he hopes to ‘die with dignity’ ‘.