Nicholas Fondacaro thought he had a big scoop in a March 13 post:
The hits just kept coming for CNN this week. Amid criticism of the network’s biased reporting from Iran, bias about the conflict, and how they got access to the country, two high-ranking CNN officials were caught at the Iranian Embassy in London attending a celebration for the founding of the Islamic regime. Additionally, the daytime edition of CNN News Central on Thursday aired four-uninterrupted minutes of Iranian state television delivering a purported written statement from the latest ayatollah, who’s in a coma.
On March 12, the U.K.-based newspaper The Telegraph published an article about the unfolding scandal engulfing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government where his Foreign Ministry attended a February 12 celebration at the Iranian Embassy to mark the founding of the Islamic Republic. The party was happening at the same time they were slaughtering thousands of their own citizens in the streets.
[…]In one of the images captured by Iranian state media, Iran Press, and shared by The Telegraph, CNN London bureau chief Andrew Roy and CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance can be seen meeting and shaking hands with Iran’s Ambassador to the U.K., Seyed Ali Mousavi (pictured above; left to right, Mousavi, Chance, and Roy).
The CNN officials didn’t appear to be attending the event as journalists. No camera crew are visible and neither was there any form of recording equipment. No voice recorders. No note pads. No visible press credentials that would show they were there for work.
But there appeared to the an issue with the Telegraph article:
The Telegram [sic] had since removed the image in the hours immediately following NewsBusters publishing our report. The newspaper did not respond to NewsBusters’ request for comment as to why the image was removed.
Still, Fondadcaro demonstrated his bias in the hostile nature of the questions he asked CNN, one of which was “Why was CNN attending an Iranian Embassy event to celebrate the creation of the Iranian regime that has murdered thousands of its own people?” He continued to rant:
Things weren’t looking particularly good for CNN. Not only did their journalists attend a party for the regime, but part of Thursday’s CNN News Central ran four-uninterrupted minutes of Iranian state television announcing the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei and reading a purported statement written by him.
Only later did the world find out that Mojtaba was actually comatose and missing a leg following an airstrike.
Fondacaro followed up the next day:
CNN made headlines this week after two members of their London bureau were caught at a regime party at the Iranian Embassy in the U.K., thanks to images released by Iran’s state media Iran Press. But they weren’t the only media present at the gathering. Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn could also be seen in Iran Press images rubbing shoulders with an Embassy official, taking to X to defend those there.
In a series of X posts on Thursday March 12 and Friday March 13, Waghorn belligerently defended attendance at the event by the Labour Party officials from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Foreign Ministry and the press.
“It’s called diplomacy and journalism, things the @dailytelegraph once used to know a bit about before its sad demise, don’t [sic] be so absurdly disingenous [sic],” he wrote.
Fondacaro then complained that “Waghorn took to defending CNN from critics who took issue with how friendly CNN had been with their coverage of Iran since the conflict began.” He further huffed:
On Sunday morning, Waghorn continued to take a defiant stance against critics of him rubbing shoulders with regime officials, calling it “commit[ting] journalism.” But he was saying it from inside Tehran.
What Fondadcaro didn’t tell his readers: that Sky News was founded and owned for 30 years by Rupert Murdoch of Fox News infamy. That raises questions about Fondacaro’s assertion that Waghorn is “a pretty staunch leftist,” based on his Twitter/X posts.
Still, Fondacaro continued to lash out at Waghorn in a March 16 post:
Surprise, surprise. As CNN left Iran, their fellow Iranian Embassy party goer Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor for Sky News tagged in. On day two of his regime-approved jaunt through Tehran, Waghorn scored an exclusive interview with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh. It took Waghorn several minutes to actually bring up the fact that the regime had slaughtered it’s people earlier this year, but he let Khatibzadeh wave it way.
Again, Fondacaro failed to disclose Sky News’ Murdoch-laden history.