OPINION
Premium

CNN's Iranian Trip Is Further Compromised As PBS Reporter Explains the Control by the Government

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Mar 27, 2026
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!

Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

  • Pretty much what most people assumed, to be honest.

After facing his share of criticism over doing the bidding of the Iranian leadership when he was being allowed to broadcast from within the country, CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen insisted he was permitted to report on his own free will. He said the only influence he received was being given an official interpreter while in the country. He did, in one post-trip interview, admit there had been portions of the country he was instructed to avoid. 

But this has been effectively exposed as a fraudulent claim, as one PBS reporter gave his account of a similar permitted trip last year.

After the Midnight Hammer mission, Sebastian Walker was allowed into Iran, and he stated that he, too, had been provided a state-backed interpreter and asserted that this individual was directing his activities:

It's very challenging to work as a journalist on the ground in Iran. There are a lot of limitations. You're constantly, you know, accompanied by government-affiliated translators who essentially act as minders. So it's often hard to kind of have a fully authentic conversation with everyday Iranians.

BlueAnon – TIME MAGAZINE

  • How many criticisms can one have in the same report?!

My goodness, Time really hit the trifecta with this report! It is not often you can slam the president over the Iran conflict, immigration policy, and accuse homophobia in one article, and yet Philip Wang accomplished this rare feat.

He found the story of two Iranians who are currently held in detention after crossing into the country illegally. That they are threatened to be sent back to a warring country is bad enough, but their being a gay couple only adds to the criticisms of their being held.

DNC PR Firm – NBC NEWS

  • So her affiliation is just an inconvenient detail? 

Once again, we see the hesitancy of the press to be forthright when a Democrat is in severe trouble. If a Republican is accused of any type of misbehavior, we are assured to see their party mentioned in the headline and repeated throughout the coverage.

But in the case of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, NBC News was less than diligent in featuring her party. McCormick, who has been found guilty in a House ethics trial of more than two dozen ethics violations, defrauded FEMA and then channeled those funds into her campaign for office. With no mention in the headline or the post promoting the article, after giving her a letter “D” in the opening, you need to hunt for a mention of her being a Democrat.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – CNN

  • The outlet seems upset about following biology.

The International Olympic Committee has angered a lot of people — mostly in the press — with the announcement that it will be limiting athletes in female athletics to be biological females.

CNN was among those clearly bothered, as they offered up the headline declaring “Transgender women are banned” from competition. This is not the case; it means they are to compete in the gender category of their birth.

That this needs to be clarified and explained indicates how far down this disturbing road we have already traveled.