Reports circulating on social media make the claim that Jade Sacker, a woman who can be seen in a video in the Capitol on January 6, works for CNN. This is false. Sacker, who describes herself as a photojournalist, appears after the riots on CNN’s Anderson Copper, but she does so in the capacity of an eyewitness. CNN told Reuters that Sacker was not at the Capitol on behalf of the channel.
Some iterations also claim that Sacker is an ‘NPR Contract Photo-Journalist’. An NPR spokesman told Reuters that Sacker was hired for a freelance job in October 2020 and has not worked with the organization since.
A tweet with the claim and the video has been tweeted more than 38,300 times ( here ). The 30-second video used in the tweet is visible within longer recordings. Youtu.be/PfiS8MsfSF4?t=1018 (exact time on time stamp 16:59) published on the YouTube channel of John Sullivan, a self-described photographer who has since been arrested (here).
CNN
The false allegation can be deduced from Sacker and Sullivan’s appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Copper 360” on the evening of January 6 (see the transcript here). In the segment, Copper Sacker introduces himself as a ‘documentary filmmaker’, not as CNN staff or contractor.
Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications for CNN, also confirmed on Twitter that no one named Jade Sacker works for CNN () here ). Dornic told Reuters in an email that Sacker was not only on our behalf at the Capitol, but that she also did not work for CNN in any capacity and had never been employed by our organization.
Regarding her appearance on CNN, Dornic further explains that she is shown as an eyewitness: ‘We interviewed a variety of eyewitnesses. She was one. ”
NPR
Some repeats refer to Sacker as an ‘NPR contract photojournalist’.
While Sacker has worked for NPR in the past (see photos here), she was not on an NPR assignment during the events of January 6th.
Isabel Lara, executive director of NPR’s Media Relations, told Reuters in an email that the store “retained Jade Sacker in October 2020 for a freelance photography assignment” and that she has not performed any services for NPR since . Lara added that Sacker “was not at our request or on our behalf at the Capitol.”
VERDICT
Untrue. Jade Sacker does not work for CNN or NPR. On January 6, she appeared with John Sullivan on CNN’s “Anderson Copper 360” as an eyewitness to the siege of the Capitol.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.