CNN silent as nurse’s viral tale of patients denying coronavirus from deathbeds falls apart

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CNN is silent after South Dakota emergency room nurse Jodi Doering claimed on the liberal network that patients dying from coronavirus often don’t believe it despite her story appearing to have been a “massive exaggeration” if not worse.

CNN’s interview went viral, with one clip piling up over 5.8 million views on Twitter. NewsBusters conducted a study, indicating that CNN spent 23 minutes and 38 seconds on Doering’s tale over a two-day period.

CNN’s interview with South Dakota emergency room nurse Jodi Doering went viral, with one clip piling up over 5.8 million views on Twitter.

“Of course, CNN has yet to air an acknowledgment or correction because, when there’s a narrative to push, CNN subscribes to the mantra of if it rings true, it is true,” NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck wrote.  

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"It wasn’t one particular patient. It’s just a culmination of so many people, and their last, dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening, it’s not real.’ And when they should be spending time FaceTiming their families, they’re filled with anger and hatred, and it just made me really sad,” the nurse told CNN on “New Day” last week.

CNN digital producer-turned-Fourth Watch editor Steve Krakauer wrote about the situation his most recent newsletter, first noting that Doering is “generally gross” for choosing to go on TV and share the private words of dying patients.

“Even if the nurse wanted to do this, why would CNN want to give a platform to this awful, inhumane treatment of dying Americans? The story was written up in The Washington Post, USA Today and others. Elizabeth Warren quote-tweeted it,” Krakauer wrote. “But ... was it real?”

Last week, journalist David Zweig penned a column “Are COVID Patients Gasping ‘It Isn’t Real’ As They Die?” for the tech publication Wired, declaring, “An ER nurse’s anecdote of deranged denialism went viral. But when the media caught wind of the story, reporters didn’t do their jobs.”

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The New York-based Zweig – who is an author and columnist who has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other outlets – examined Doering’s claim, contacting other hospitals in the same area of South Dakota but nobody else seemed to have the same experience as the nurse who appeared on CNN.

The National Review also probed Doering’s story and didn’t find any other nurses in the area who witnessed the things she claimed.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Doering’s story began on Twitter and ended up on CNN, but Krakauer feels the liberal network should have verified her claims before extending her a platform.

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“Had they done any journalistic legwork, like Wired and National Review did, Doering would likely still be getting Twitter traction to tell what appears to be, at the least, a massive exaggeration ... but not a national TV spotlight,” Krakauer wrote.

Doering was interviewed by CNN’s “New Day” co-host Alisyn Camerota and then clips from the sit down were used on a variety of other programs including “CNN Newsroom” with Brianna Keilar, “CNN Tonight” with Don Lemon and it was mentioned on Jake Tapper’s “The Lead.”