This Sunday, a Pakistan-based freelancer affiliated with CNN, a multinational news channel, was dismissed by the institution after his anti-genocide tweet was highlighted.
Adeel Raja, the controversial freelancer, made a statement at 12:45 pm on his Twitter account that says “The world today needs a Hitler”. Although the tweet was deleted after a couple of hours but spread a massive outrage among the global community.
In response to his statement, the channel decided to cut ties with him. One of the representatives of CNN, Matt Dornic told the Washington Examiner that “Adeel Raja has never been a CNN employee. As a freelancer, his reporting contributed to some news-gathering efforts from Islamabad, However, in light of these abhorrent statements, he will not be working with CNN again in any capacity.”
On Monday, Adeel Raja came to his defense with another tweet that he is quite satisfied with his viral tweet as it highlights the Palestine issue. He’s not grieved about his job, he added.
It is noteworthy that Raja affiliated with CNN in 2013. As per his LinkedIn profile, he is also associated with Ary as an executive producer and has also worked with national channels like Duniya News, Aaj TV, and Dawn news previously. He also won AGAHI awards for his services in journalism in 2016.
Author: Iqra Arif