(MintPress) — Why would a news outlet send reporters on a dangerous mission to capture and expose grave human rights abuses in Bahrain, and then turn around and refuse to air the final product to an international audience? It could have something to do with the old saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
Journalists Scott Bronstein, Amber Lyon and Taryn Fixel were tasked with creating a mini-documentary on the civil unrest in Bahrain. What they discovered was far beyond what they had imagined, with on-the-ground footage revealing peaceful human rights activists being shot at and government officials denying that such had ever occurred. Yet their work was never aired to an international audience.
The documentary, “iRevolution,” told the story of the widespread violence sponsored by the government, a piece that painted a not-so-favorable picture of Bahraini officials. It was, as Lyon says, the truth.
Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald asserts in his most recent column that CNN International receives funding from the Bahraini government, a conflict of interest he points to as reason for the refusal to air the documentary to its global English-speaking audience. CNN is sticking to its story: The move was an editorial decision.
Having been fired from the news outlet, Lyon has emerged as a staunch critic of CNN International’s actions, claiming that the editorial decision was based not on the news agency’s general guidelines, but on pressure from the Bahraini government, which largely came in the way of cash.
Reporting news, or PR agenda?
There is one department of the Bahraini government that is entirely dedicated to spreading a positive image of the nation and its leaders. The Economic Development Board (EDB) unabashedly admits this, touting itself as responsible for “creating the right climate to attract direct investment into the Kingdom …”
That same organization issued a report in 2010, claiming that it had used CNN as part of its promotional campaign, sponsoring stories intended to portray the nation in a positive light. It also mentioned spots on the station’s daily coverage.
“In addition to spots around CNN’s daily television coverage from Davos, the EDB sponsored a series of vignettes entitled ‘The Agenda’ and ‘Davos Debrief’ which aired throughout CNN’s coverage, offering viewers insights into the Davos programme and quick turnaround reactions to meetings,” the document states.
The EDB later goes on to refer to the video spots as an advertising campaign. While that may be, as they’re typically put together, not by journalists, but by sales staff, the roughly two-minute spots are eerily similar to a news story, leaving some average viewers with the impression that the advertorial campaign is in fact news. Either way, the EDB praises the coverage, claiming it allowed its message to be spread to 200 million households around the world.
“… The EDB’s association with CNN, one of the world’s most influential news broadcasters, helped in making a strong case for future investment and partnerships,” it states in its report.
Greenwald also references in his story the organization, Bahrain Watch, which looks at the Bahraini government’s spending on public relations campaigns in 2011. A long list of expenditures detailed on its website adds up to a whopping $32 million, including expenditures targeted at public relations organizations in Washington, D.C., New York and London.
The questionable source of funding for CNN International is now being called out by Lyon and Greenwald, who claim this relationship directly hampered the news content of the global network. They allege this is the real reason the iRevolution documentary was not aired, for fear of losing funding sources from the EDB.
Exposing the funding
In a Twitter post Wednesday, Lyon claims CNN was “caught taking money from oppressive regimes in exchange for coverage that ‘makes them look better.’”
Greenwald reports in his column that the making of the documentary exceeded $100,000 — a high cost for a piece intended for a one-market-only viewing. The cost for CNN International to run the same program, relevant to its audience and content, would have been little, if none at all. Greenwald goes on to report that employees within CNN International were never given an explanation for the decision to not air the segment.
Lyon is no stranger to the pushback from Bahrain’s government. Before the airing of the documentary on U.S. stations, she appeared on CNN to report on her experiences in Bahrain, including her detention and eyewitness accounts of protesters being shot with small bird pellets.
Following such reports, she said she received pressure from her superiors to include claims from the Bahraini government, despite the fact that she knew they were lying, as evidenced by her on-the-ground eyewitness accounts.
After CNN International’s refusal to air the documentary, Lyon met with the news organization’s president, Tony Maddox, who Lyon claims gave her no explanation and told her to not speak about the situation publicly.
CNN fights back
Following Greenwald’s column, CNN International’s press room published a response in an attempt to debunk claims that it had censored its news, due to the bullying of the Bahraini government.
“Despite Greenwald’s speculation about the editorial choices that are made when operating multiple networks with different audience profiles, there is nothing unusual about this programming decision,” the statement says.
It goes on to state that coverage of the unrest in Bahrain was covered by CNN International, with the station airing on-the-ground reports from Lyon, prior to the completion of the documentary. The news organization points to other reporters who were covering Bahrain for CNN International at the time.
It also includes criticism of Lyon in the response, claiming CNN International did not know she was there at first, because she didn’t follow CNN policy “when traveling to and reporting from areas in turmoil.”
Lyon isn’t buying it. Her Twitter feed Thursday was jam packed with references to Maddox, calling him out for attempting to ruin her reputation as a journalist and ignoring the assertion that he and his news organization are accepting funding from known dictators in exchange for coverage.
The CNN International response mentioned nothing about concerns over funding from the Bahraini government’s EDB.