And the recent screw-up from CNN only proves this issue. 

You've likely seen the story of CNN reporter Clarissa Ward. As Bonchie reported on Monday, Ward and CNN participated in the freeing of a prisoner of Assad's regime. Cameras just so happened to be there to watch the prisoner emerge, catching this dynamic and touching moment in all its glory. 

And wouldn't you know it? Ward and CNN were the ones who facilitated this wonderful moment. CNN and Ward were heroes and proved they weren't just a news network — they were a global force for good! 

Only, as Bonchie reports, the due diligence that CNN failed to do was, once again, left to others. Upon researching the prisoner, his real identity was revealed as Salama Mohammad Salama, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence and a notorious torturer: 

Yes, the failing left-wing network was so desperate for ratings that it "accidentally" released a notorious torture agent of the now-fallen Bashar al-Assad regime. Telling CNN that his name was "Adel Gharbal," Salama Mohammad Salama used Ward's desperation to go viral as a means to escape his confinement. Why was he in the cell? Because after years of extorting, torturing, and murdering people, he got into a dispute over money with a higher-ranking officer.

This entire paragraph is CNN in a nutshell, but the key phrase I think really drove the point home here is "desperation to go viral." 

CNN appears to suffer from a sensation over substance problem, wanting to be the news rather than report it, or at the very least, look as if it's a part of some dynamic moment in history. 

You can see this in big ways over the past eight or so years alone. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter Riots in Kenosha, CNN's bias in favor of the rioters was on full display, being most apparently in its infamous "fiery but mostly peaceful" chyron as buildings went up in flames behind their on-the-scene reporter, Omar Jiminez. Even then, it was clear that CNN wanted to be seen as the news network of the people, but they were so blinded by their own bias that they didn't understand that even the people they thought they were advocating for thought CNN was part of the problem. 

The people displayed that in a big way when, in that same year, CNN headquarters in Atlanta came under attack by rioters. 

As an aside, if you want to know how much of a joke the corporate media is, CNN won an Emmy for its BLM riot reporting.

CNN's reporting during COVID was especially egregious, attacking people who didn't get the vaccine or arguing against lockdown measures as if they were the bad guys in this story. As they did that, they displayed dramatic graphics such as death toll trackers for extended periods of time. CNN, it seems, didn't actually think to get to the bottom of those numbers or report accurately on its survivability. It simply went above and beyond to scaremonger and keep people riveted to their television screens. 

Of course, if you were to ask me who embodied the "be the story" mentality of CNN the most, I'd have to hand that to Jim Acosta, the White House correspondent who thought his God-given mission on Earth was to bring Trump down. 

In 2018, Acosta confronted Trump on his "enemy of the people" comment about the press. Acosta could have approached the moment with more grace and possibly made Trump look like he was being dramatic by saying that, but Acosta acted as if he was taking it personally, not just on his own behalf, but on behalf of the people whom he thought loved and trusted the media. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he called out to Trump from the back of the room like a protester, not a journalist. 

In that same year, Acosta would refuse to give up the microphone while he was attempting to argue with Trump about an invasion of illegal immigrants that Acosta tried to paint as a "caravan of migrants." This was the tee-up for Acosta to accuse Trump of "demonizing immigrants." This led to Acosta and Trump getting into a debate which was inappropriate for the setting. Eventually, Trump decided he wasn't going to feed Acosta any more attention, which is what he really wanted. 

A female intern went to take the microphone from Acosta, who refused to give it up, instead ignoring Trump's demands he move on. Finally, the woman was able to snatch the mic from Acosta, resulting in a tongue-lashing from Trump about his behavior. 

Instead of feeling any shame, CNN would go on to defend Acosta and paint the moment as Trump attacking a free press. However, what Acosta was doing was not trying to get answers to questions but paint Trump as something he wasn't. 

Acosta wasn't done. In 2019, his infamous border wall stunt embarrassed CNN yet again. Acosta went down to the border to show that there was no crisis going on and that Trump was just stoking fears of xenophobia and racism to maintain power. Acosta showed a border that was quiet and safe, with no migrants coming across at all... because he was reporting right next to Trump's border wall. 

But you see what's happening with CNN. 

CNN wants you hooked. It wants you to feel like you can't miss a moment and that CNN must be on in your living room because it's not just your most trusted name in news; it's there when the news is happening. Dynamic moments? CNN has them in droves. 

It believes that to such a degree that it seems willing to create those moments themselves if necessary, whether it's helping to release an Assad regime torturer or standing up to a Republican in the White House. 

CNN is not a news organization so much as a drama organization. Again, this isn't just relegated to CNN, but CNN certainly appears to be the leader in trying to make news rather than report it.