The Syrian activist going by the name ‘Danny‘ appeared on Anderson Cooper 36 Monday night to respond to the accusations that he was fabricating his reports to CNN regarding events on the ground in Syria.
The Syrian state-run television station, SANA, somehow intercepted a feed of Danny as he waited to go on the air with CNN from inside the country’s borders. In the clips, edited and aired by SANA, Danny is referred to as a ‘zionist‘, and is made out to be fabricating the sounds of battle, as well taking instructions on what to say when he goes on the air with CNN.
Trust is a key factor in the dissemination of information, and SANA’s portrayal of Danny as a source that both lies and has a personal agenda is an effective, time-tested tactic in undermining a source’s credibility.
In the video above, both Cooper and Danny note that the video has been edited by SANA. Danny affirms that he is not a journalist, but an activist hoping to join the Free Syrian Army, and Cooper adds that, if the Syrian regime were to allow journalists to enter Syrian borders, then external news organizations would be able to confirm the events on the ground themselves.