TLDR: The meme is completely false.
Ironically, the article and the infographic are both spreading the same type of propaganda they accuse CNN of.
Some background: Firstly, CNN and CNN International are separate organizations.
Amber Lyon became concerned about the credibility of CNN International (ie, not CNN -- which is US only), because of their handling of a documentary she made called iRevolution: Online Warriors of the Arab Spring for CNN (not CNN International).
I know, it's a little confusing. Bear with me.
13 minutes of her hour long documentary was about Bahrain and its corrupt government. She says she wondered why her CNN documentary wasn't going to be aired on CNN International -- even though it was actually made specifically for CNN -- because she believed it was of direct interest to CNN International's audience.
So confused was she by this, that she decided to dig a little deeper, and that's when she discovered what she claims were "financial connections" between CNN International (not CNN) and the Bahrain government that showed the country had paid for pro-Bahrain content to be aired on CNN International. (She also claims she found similar connections with Lebanon, Georgia and Kazakhstan.)
This is the basis for saying that Lyon made accusations about governments paying for content on "CNN" -- it was actually CNN International she was accusing, not the US arm, CNN.
CNN International issued a response to her claims, which stated,
“[The documentary] was never intended to air on CNN International. It was an hour-long program about the impact of social media on the Arab Spring that was commissioned for CNN US, where it ran in June of 2011 ... There is nothing unusual about this programming decision [to not air the documentary on CNN International].”
So yes, CNN aired her documentary in the US in June 2011, they just didn't show it on CNN International. Now given that CNN International is the most watched English speaking news outlet in the Middle East, you might think that Lyon's were justified, but CNN maintains that they had already aired similar Bahrain programming that was critical of Bahrain... including some of Lyon's other work!
With regards to Lyon's accusation that CNN International aired "sponsored" content from corrupt regimes, they also stated that,
CNN International has carried advertising and sponsored content since the 1990s. The critical issue is that our editorial operations and our commercial operations are completely separate. No deal ever buys any editorial influence. (emphasis added)
CNN International was investigated in 2015 regarding their "sponsored content" by UK body OFCOM. They concluded that CNN International had produced a small number of sponsored "current affairs" programs (which, incidentally, is against UK law), but did not take issue that such content was not transparently labelled "sponsored". They also did not find evidence of editorial bias. (Source)
This is where a gray area appears... You can read their back-and-forth debate here, and decide for yourself:
The infographic also is focused solely on CNN (US) and the Obama Administration, neither of which have anything to do with the above.
So let's recap:
Did Amber Lyon claim she was ordered to report fake stories? NO
Did she claim she was ordered to delete stories that were unfriendly to the Obama Administration? NO
Has she made any claims that the US Government pays for content on CNN or any other news outlet? NO
Has she specifically accused the Obama Administration of paying for stories or propaganda pieces? NO
Finally, she was also never "fired" from CNN for blowing any whistles either. She was laid off (along with 60 other people) as they closed a whole division down as part of restructuring. And if you need further proof of this, consider the fact that it was only after she was laid off that she started talking publicly about her concerns... so it certainly wasn't connected with "whistleblowing".
More than this, she also specifically says that she never saw any evidence of US Government officials controlling the news during her time at CNN. (You can hear her talk about both of these things in her own words here)
As an aside, with regards to Amber Lyon's actual concerns with US news outlets (including CNN) and its relationship with the US government, Amber Lyon is very clear about what they are -- and they have nothing to do with the claims of the infographic:
- She believes that all major US news outlets seem to be pushing "anti-Iran" messages, much like they pushed the phrase "weapons of mass destruction" prior to the invasion of Iraq (that's the example she uses). She says that, due to the earlier messages preceding the Iraq War, she feels that the US government may be gearing up to war with Iran in the same deceitful manner. (You can hear her talk about this in her own words here.)
Update: Eight years after she voiced her concerns, we can see that her fears of a US war with Iran amounted to nothing.
She considers ALL US news outlets suspect, and she uses news outlets that were FOR the Iraq War (and who reported about "weapons of mass destruction") as prime examples of this sort of propaganda. In other words, her concerns on this matter have nothing to do with CNN or the Obama Administration specifically, and actually she implies large accusations towards other networks (eg. Fox) and other administrations (eg. Bush's).
Now, to be fair, Lyon does have some issues with the Obama Administration -- even though they have nothing to do with them paying for news content or CNN. In her interview with (ahem) Alex Jones, she talks about how she feels the present Administration has made all news outlets afraid of publishing stories that include sources they've deemed as "terrorists".
This, she says, has put the government in control of what gets reported, because journalists don't want to be indicted to reveal their sources. She says the government should not be in control of who is deemed a terrorist, and who is not, and that journalists shouldn't be threatened with indictment to reveal their sources, even if the government considers those sources to be threats to national security. (Source)
I think this is an interesting claim, and it's a shame that this isn't what's being spread around in infographics and overwrought websites.
It's hard to know where the truth lies and the conspiracy theories begin with regards to CNN International's ties to corrupt regimes. She talked with Alex Jones in September 2012, but it's worth watching for what she says (you have to ignore what Alex Jones says) and that you're aware that she's referring to the Bahrain government and CNN International.
Her claims that the US Government's attempts to crack down on terrorism is negatively affecting the free press is troubling, but she's never claimed they paid CNN (or anyone else) for content.
So, regardless of all of this, one thing is for sure; both the infographic and article are absolute nonsense.
