CNN Didn't Call Boulder Shooter ‘Factually Arab, But Morally White’
The Claim
A CNN chyron said the Boulder “shooter was factually Arab, but morally white.”
News posted on
Emerging story
An Instagram post from March 25, 2021 shows a screenshot from an interview between CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin and correspondent Lucy Kafanov about the Boulder, Colorado shooting. The photo shows a chyron that reads “shooter was factually Arab, but morally white.”
A similar photo was seen circulating on Facebook, but instead of “Arab” the chyron said “Arabic."
Users shared the photo and reacted by calling the caption racist and anti-white.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be fake. The photo originated from The Babylon Bee, a satirical website. The article containing the altered photo was published on March 23.
At 1:01 p.m. MT, the timestamp in the Babylon Bee’s altered image, CNN’s chyron actually read, "Colorado shooting suspect booked into jail today." The interview can be found on YouTube and the actual chyron can be seen at the 1:50 mark of the video.
According to USA Today, Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications for CNN Worldwide, confirmed in an email that the image was doctored. “It’s yet another fake and offensive image circulating on social media. CNN never aired that chyron,” he wrote.
