A collage of two tweet screenshots purportedly from CNN's Afghanistan and Ukraine Twitter accounts is being widely circulated on social media platforms with a false claim that CNN reported the same journalist was "killed" twice within a year.
BOOM found out that the claim is false as the Twitter accounts in the screenshot are imposter accounts and the photo is of a YouTuber and not of a CNN correspondent.
The tweet screenshots feature the same image of a person allegedly named 'Bernie Gores'. The collage photo of the screenshots claim that CNN reported the death of the same person who was "executed" during the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 2021 and reported that the same journalist "passed away" in an explosion by Russian backed separatists amid Ukraine crisis in 2022.
A Facebook user posted the collage with a Hindi caption which translates to, "This is CNN's Bernie Gores..! Wherever there is a problem in this world, the person goes there and dies..! You can see, according to CNN, this man died in Afghanistan and then the same man died in Ukraine."
(Original Text in Hindi: ये हैं CNN के बर्नी ब्रो..! इस दुनियाँ में जिधर भी लोचा लफड़ा होता है बंदा वहीं जाकर मर जाता है..! आप ही देखिये CNN के अनुसार यही आदमी अफगानिस्तान में मरा था फिर यही आदमी यूक्रेन में भी मरा है..)
Click here to view the post.
Click here to view an archive of the post.
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Fact Check
BOOM found that the claim is false and that the accounts "@CNNUKR" and "@CNNAfghan" seen in the viral screenshot are imposter accounts that have now been suspended by Twitter for violating its platform rules.
Twitter's impersonation policy states that, "Twitter accounts that pose as another person, brand, or organization in a confusing or deceptive manner may be permanently suspended under Twitter's impersonation policy."
BOOM did not find any CNN verified twitter account
dedicated to Ukraine till the timing of writing this article. Additionally, a keyword search on
CNN's website did not show us any result about a person named Bernie Gores. The screenshot of the search can be seen below. A search on Google of "Bernie Gores" AND "CNN" only show fact-checks of the viral graphic.
Screenshot From CNN's Website
BOOM also did a reverse image search of the person's photo on TinEye which led us to a website named Wikitubia featuring the same photo of the person. According to the website, the man in the photo is "Jordie McCraty Jordan (born: April 21, 1986 [age 35]), better known online as WingsOfRedemption or Richard, is an American Twitch streamer and former Call Of Duty commentator."
Screenshot From Wikitubia
The website also led us to a verified YouTube channel named "Jordie Jordan" where the same person can be seen present on a gaming podcast video which was streamed live on March 3, 2022.
Also Read: Russian Disinfo Groups Used AI-Generated Profiles To Target Ukrainians
