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Why would you ever believe CNN?

Shooting survivor accuses CNN of forcing scripted questions. CNN issues strong denial, but...



Shooting survivor accuses CNN of forcing scripted questions. CNN issues strong denial, but... By now, you've probably seen the accusation. Stoneman Douglas High School student Colton Haab, a member of the JROTC program who shielded other students during the attack, claims CNN provided him with a scripted question to ask at last night's gun control show trial. If you haven't seen it, here it is:


As he put it, "I expected to be able to ask my questions and give my opinion on my questions. CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions and it ended up being all scripted." CNN, of course, is denying this. As the Daily Caller reports:
“There is absolutely no truth,” to Haab’s claim, CNN’s Vice President of Communications and Digital Partnerships Matt Dornic told TheDC. “CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever.” “After seeing an interview with Colton Haab, we invited him to participate in our town hall along with other students and administrators from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Colton’s father withdrew his name from participation before the forum began, which we regretted but respected. We welcome Colton to join us on CNN today to discuss his views on school safety.”
So, they're basically calling Haab a liar. They're doing it gently, but that's what they're doing. The problem with that is that several of the people who did ask questions were allowed to offer long, pointed, remarks. One grieving mother - who had appeared on CNN earlier in the week – spoke for four minutes before she asked NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch a seemingly-rhetorical question. ...And Loesch was not offered a chance to respond.

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CNN has so far refused to explain why some people were allowed to give such speeches, while Colton Haab was not. The problem for CNN is that they've spent decades squandering their credibility. As the New York Post reported in 2016, CNN has a long history of creating lopsided audiences by stacking them with pre-selected questioners. Back in 2007, they hosted a debate in which the "everyday, undecided voters" who asked questions turned out to include...
  • A member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual Americans For Hillary Clinton Steering Committee.
  • A young woman named “Journey” who questioned the candidates on abortion and whom CNN failed to properly identify as an outspoken John Edwards supporter.
  • A supposed “Log Cabin Republican” who had declared his support for Obama on an Obama ‘08 campaign blog.
  • A supposedly unaffiliated “concerned mother” who was actually a staffer and prominent Pittsburgh union activist for the United Steelworkers — which had endorsed Edwards for president.
  • A supposed “undecided” voter who urged Ron Paul to run as an independent, but who had already publicly declared his support for former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s Democratic presidential bid.
  • A staffer for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), a former intern for Rep. Jane Harman (D-California) and a former intern for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The network expects us to believe it was outraged that Donna Brazile funneled its debate questions to Hillary Clinton, it expects us to believe that Wolf Blitzer's gleeful dancing and fawning coverage at the Democratic convention was not a display of support, it expects us to believe that its visceral hatred of Donald Trump has not been on full display every day since he secured the nomination, and it laughably expects us to believe its reporting is unbiased. We don't. ...So why in the world would we take their word over that of Colton Haab?

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