The distant third-ranked news network, CNN, has been in a struggle for some time, but the month of March has become a dark one for the ages. Things were grim at the start due to the announced finalization of its parent company being bought out by Skydance Media. This delivers a twofold panic at the network, as the new conglomerate plans to spin off cable television networks, and there is fear that CNN will be held under the editorial control of CBS News head Bari Weiss.
As a result, the cable channel has been acting unhinged for the past couple of weeks. There was pride when it was announced that CNN would be the only news broadcaster permitted into Iran by the government, as most questioned why the Iranians would trust this particular outlet. After the bombing attempt in New York City, CNN tried to frame things as an attack on Mayor Mamdani with misdirection reports. This was followed by numerous retractions and corrections throughout the week. Then we saw that not only were the dispatches from Iran trending towards propaganda, but the channel actually turned over minutes of airtime to the state-run Iranian News broadcast.
This morning, RC Maxwell covered the latest Pentagon briefing, during which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called out CNN directly for delivering “fake news.” He was specifically addressing the recent fruitbat guano-level report that claimed that in National Security Council (NSC) meetings, there were concerns that the military and the administration had not anticipated Iran working to close off the Straight of Hormuz. The folks at CNN are not handling this well.
ALSO SEE: ‘Decimated’: Hegseth Says Iran’s Military Is Being Crushed in Operation Epic Fury
Longtime CNN contributor Barbara Starr was upset to hear Hegseth call out her network, and as expected, she responded with no hint of introspection. Her “Well, how DARE you!” reaction pretends that because CNN has reporters in the field, this means they somehow have better intel than our own military. She also glosses over the fact that what he addressed was an opinion being presented as gospel, further compromising the vanishing credibility of CNN.
Also getting into a lather over this morning’s tongue-lashing presser was Brian Stelter, who reported that CNN spokespersons came out in support of their journalism and stand by their report.
What Brian hopes for is a lack of historical context in the region, and that no one would actually be reading the article that is being contested. It is a rather stunted dose of wishcasting, based on spurious sourcing. Start with the fact that the classified intel from the NSC meeting comes from “multiple sources familiar with the matter.” Translation: leaked intel from Democrats on the council.
Now, in order to buy into this fable, you have to accept the possibility that there was no military contingency for Iran attempting to close off that choke point, something that country has been threatening for decades. Whenever there has been a conflict in that region, even passive observers have noted the possibility of Iran taking action to prevent shipping through that passage, but we need to believe that this came as a surprise today.
And, despite Brian’s framing that it was simply “underestimating” that was the issue, the report claims there was no plan in place, and for daft reasoning. The contents of the CNN report are perplexing in nature because the explanation given not only defies logic but is an inherent contradiction. Read this passage and try to connect threads that go in many directions.
So, according to four bylined CNN reporters, with help from two additional people, our military did not seek to address the Straight of Hormuz because Iran would be adversely affected – even as Iran threatened to shut off that passageway last year.
What seems clear with this contested reporting is that CNN runs with a narrative that agrees with its aim of opposing the Epic Fury efforts, and relies on complicit Democrat sourcing to hold up its contention. As it lapses into confirmation bias, it requires the audience to ignore Iran’s history in the region and hold the opinion that our military planners, and those in Israel, had no plan in place for the likelihood of Iran doing what it has long pledged to do.
The fainting couch reactions from CNN over being called out for this type of emotion-based reporting are amusing, but also display a sad condition: the evaporating credibility at a news outlet that seems unconcerned with that developing reality.
https://redstate.com/bradslager/2026/03/13/cnns-horrendous-month-continues-as-secretary-hegseth-causes-network-meltdowns-with-his-pentagon-presser-n2200191
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