Project Veritas Leaks: How CNN Practises the “Art of Manipulation”

A collection of videos published by Project Veritas over the last several weeks has shown leaks of CNN employees explaining how the network engages in “manipulation” and the active partisan shaping of public opinion along the lines of the agenda set by CNN’s President Jeff Zucker.

On April 14th, Lotuseaters.com reported on the first leak (among the recent ones) by Project Veritas targeting CNN. In the recordings, CNN’s Technical Director Charlie Chester recounted the role the network played in last year’s presidential election. Chester had spoken with an undercover Project Veritas journalist who recorded their conversation.

“Look at what we did, we got Trump out. I am 100% going to say it, and I 100% believe that if it wasn't for CNN, I don't know that Trump would have got voted out. ... I came to CNN because I wanted to be a part of that.”

Chester also explained how, according to him, CNN engages in “propaganda” when reporting on politically charged topics, such as the figures of the two most recent presidents.

“[Trump’s] hand was shaking or whatever, I think. We brought in so many medical people to tell a story that was all speculation - that he was neurologically damaged, and he was losing it. He's unfit to - you know, whatever. … We would always show shots of [Biden] jogging and that [he’s] healthy, you know, and him in aviator shades. Like you paint him as a young geriatric. … We were creating a story there that we didn't know anything about. That's what - I think that’s propaganda.” 

Rachelle Hoffman, CNN’s Graphics Producer, is also featured some of the videos released. She expressed her agreement with Chester about the nature of CNN’s reporting, but unlike him, she seemed to regard it as a shortcoming rather than an achievement.

Chester also revealed that climate change is about to become CNN’s next primary ‘focus’ when the coronavirus pandemic becomes less pressing.

“[Climate change] is the next pandemic-like story that we’ll beat to death. But that one has got longevity. There's a definitive ending to the pandemic. It'll taper off to a point that it's not a problem anymore. Climate change can take years, so we’ll probably be able to milk that quite a bit. Be prepared, [climate change overload] is coming.”

When Chester reiterated that “climate change is going to be the next COVID thing for CNN,” Hoffman added, “but that’s a fair thing to focus on.”

The second video published by Project Veritas features another part of the conversation between Chester and an undercover journalist. In it, Chester lays out CNN’s strategy to help the cause of the Democratic Party by attacking Matt Gaetz, a Republican Congressman who, in Chester’s words, “can cause a lot of hiccups in the passing of laws.” Because “it would be great for the Democratic Party to get him out,” Chester claims that CNN engages in “propaganda” to “keep hurting” Gaetz when it comes to recent allegations that have surfaced against him.

In the third video, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe confronts Chester in a restaurant about the recordings of his admissions regarding CNN’s operations. Faced with the direct questioning by O’Keefe, Chester declined to provide any further elaboration on his comments.

In a video titled “PART 2” of the secret recordings, Chester explains the aim behind CNN’s inclusion of the coronavirus death toll ‘ticker’ in their broadcasts. According to Chester, the goal is to evoke fear in the viewers, because fear makes for good “ratings.”

“COVID? Gangbusters with ratings… Which is why we constantly have the death toll on the side - which I have a major problem with - how we’re tallying how many people die every day. Because I’ve even looked at it and be like, ‘let’s make it higher; why isn’t it high enough today; it would make our point better if it was higher.’ And I’m like, what am I f***ing rallying for? That’s a problem - that we’re doing that.”

Chester replies to a question about the numbers of those who have recovered from COVID-19 being included on the screen by guessing that the reason might be because such numbers do not produce fear, adding “if it bleeds, it leads.”

As with the coverage of Trump or Biden, when it comes to the high-level decisions on how the pandemic is covered, Chester confirms that it is the head of the network, Jeff Zucker, who has the final word. Hoffman corroborates this in a different clip, explaining that Zucker “makes the calls on what we cover.”

Addressing in more detail the methods employed by CNN to produce “propaganda,” Chester recounts how there is an “art to manipulation,” both of figures invited and featured in news shows and the audience consuming such news. He adds that such manipulation, if done well, has the power to “change the world.”

In “Part 3,” Chester states that manipulation skillfully conducted by nationwide media can “shape an entire people’s perception about anything,” particularly by choosing what is or is not covered by the press and how it is addressed. He explains these mechanisms with reference to CNN as well as other media outlets.

As covered by Lotuseaters.com on April 16th, shortly after the CNN recordings were published, James O’Keefe’s Twitter account was suspended, supposedly for a violation of Twitter’s “Fake accounts” policy. O’Keefe responded with an announcement that he would seek to sue Twitter for defamation, insisting that he had never “operated fake accounts.”

In addition, O’Keefe announced on April 26th that it will also launch a lawsuit against CNN. This lawsuit is to be related to CNN’s coverage of the ban of Project Veritas’ Twitter account (a different one than O’Keefe’s personal account). CNN reporter Ana Cabrera used the word “misinformation” in connection with Project Veritas, which, according to O’Keefe, does not reflect the truth.

Follow Project Veritas on YouTube.