Former Reporter Amber Lyon Exposes Massive Censorship at CNN

[proud2BlibKansan]

I saw first-hand that these regime claims were lies, and I couldn’t believe CNN was making me put what I knew to be government lies into my reporting.
- Amber Lyon

The Amber Lyon story is just the latest in a series of articles that expose the total Joseph Goebbels like censorship rampant in mainstream media today. The first one I posted several weeks ago exposed how the NY Times basically just regurgitates whatever government officials tell them, while the other showcased how an NPR reporter covering D.C. had to leave and do her own thing out of frustration. This is precisely why alternative media sites are taking off. They provide the only outlets left for genuine journalism.

So back to Amber. Back in March 2011, CNN sent a four person team to Bahrain to cover the Arab Spring. Once there, the crew was the subject of extreme intimidation amongst other things, but they were able to record some fantastic footage. As Glenn Greenwald of the UK’s Guardian writes in his blockbuster article from today:

more . . . http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/09/former-reporter-amber-lyon-exposes-massive-censorship-at-cnn-2463094.html

[mfcorey1]

1. DannnG!!!!!!

[Zorra]

2. It would be a really good thing if everyone killed their televisions. Seriously.

"HOW CAN 59,054,087 PEOPLE BE SO STUPID?!?"


The answer to this question is very simple: TELEVISION

“The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, and armed force.”
~ Michael Parenti

“Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.”
~ Allen Ginsburg

"“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”
~ Jim Morrison

“If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.”
~ Frank Zappa

"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
~ Roger Waters

“Most people gaze neither into the past nor the future; they explore neither truth nor lies. They gaze at the television.”
~ Radiohead

“Calvin:"It says here that 'religion is the opiate of the masses.'...what do you suppose that means?"
Television: "...it means that Karl Marx hadn't seen anything yet”
~ Bill Watterson

“People are sheep. TV is the shepherd.”
~ Jess C. Scott,

"Television is the opium of the masses"
~ Everyone familiar with Marx who does not watch television

Really, try not watching television for 1 year.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. TV isn't the culprit. It's merely a conduit of information....

The culprit is apathy.

[Scootaloo]

8. Television encourages apathy

Indulging in television is 100% passive. You sit there, and stuff is literally beamed into your head for you.

[Berlin Expat]

17. I totally agree; my dad was

an avid FNC viewer, until one fine day, my ex-wife (having been born behind the Iron Curtain) said quite bluntly, "I was born in a totalitarian regime where propaganda was passed off as news. I know propaganda when I see it, and this (FNC) is the most outrageous propaganda I've ever seen in my life."

He didn't know quite what to say to that. However, a year or so later, he stopped watching FNC.

[Scootaloo]

21. Haven't "Watched TV" as an activity in nearly a decade

There are individual shows I follow, but I haven' t been able to sit in front of a television for a long time in... a really long time. I start arguing with it, and that's the point where I realize my sanity is slipping, and fond something else to do

[socialindependocrat]

29. I get bugged by the conflict the show has to create to be a show

Sometimes the conflict is miscommunication
This drives me batty
It shows people how to miscommunicate!

Then there are the obvious flaws with what people do.
I sit and yell at the actors - Why didn't they look in the closet!
Why did they put themselves in that position?
It ends up being people doing things stupidly.
What does that teach our children?

You're right - go find something productive to do...

[tavalon]

23. It's not really that black and white

I got rid of the cable teat well over a decade ago, but I still watch some high quality shows, such as Newsroom and Game of Thrones, sans commercials. And I spend enough time on the web that my "no television" halo is a bit tarnished.

[bbgrunt]

4. +1.

[HooptieWagon]

5. Yes! I unplugged mine several years ago and put it on the closet shelf.

Don't miss it a bit. And when I want to catch the occassional sports, I go to a local bar and have a couple beers, which is still cheaper than cable plus it supports a local business!

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. + 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. 2/3 of my life has been without tv

and when circumstances arose when one was in the house, I rarely watched it.
did happen to have one when 9-11 happened, oddly.
Don't have one now, tho.
Many years ago I read Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander.
He is an interesting man, btw...

[Le Taz Hot]

19. Been without it for awhile now.

I can't believe how much I was paying each month for 150+ channels of shit. And then there's the never-ending informercials. And I was paying for that too.

I subscribe to Netflix for $7.99 a month. That's it.

[Zoeisright]

20. I was just thinking about that Daily Mirror cover today.

Of course, they cheated too, but still, far too many people voted for that complete idiot.

[sellitman]

24. I haven't gotten my news from a TV in years

This stuff just validates my habits.

Thanks!

[CrispyQ]

25. Some great quotes there!

Not sure which I like best.

"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
~ Roger Waters



“Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.”
~ Allen Ginsburg

So true.

[FedUpWithIt All]

6. A google search of her name brought up this rebuttal by CNN

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/05/cnn-internationals-response-to-the-guardian/

[BumRushDaShow]

13. I wish they would fact-check the lies spewed by rethugs every day

in the same strong language and put a disclaimer on Blitzkrieg's and Creepy Crawly's shows. But I can dream, eh?

[BrainMann1]

10. It's what you watch

don't let them win. Not being inform is just plain scary. MSNBC, NPR are good sources of information as well as others, you just have to look and listen. Great job Amber, journalism on steroids.

[NJedwina]

11. The Greenwald pushback

Full disclosure: I am no fan of Greewald and he is getting pushback from the UK media about his claims.http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/willardfoxton2/100007533/on-assange-and-on-cnn-glenn-greenwald-is-talking-out-of-his-hat-and-is-an-embarrassment-to-the-guardian/

[Zorra]

22. The Telegraph is a right wing rag; a very untrustworthy source of information. nt

[WCGreen]

12. CNN jumped the shark when Ted sold the store...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. Also when Bernard Shaw left.

He blew the lid off of the charade that is journalism in this address and attributes it to the desperate grip on power by white males who own the media.

[heaven05]

14. yep

she's got integrity yet she will never get a job in MSM again. Good call Ms. Lyon. I wish you continued success in your chosen field. Free press my ass! Democracy

[proverbialwisdom]

15. In 3/2012, Lyon was laid off from CNN..unrelated move..to outsource its investigative documentaries.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/04/cnn-international-documentary-bahrain-arab-spring-repression?newsfeed=true

TITLE (see link)
A former CNN correspondent defies threats from her former employer to speak out about self-censorship at the network

by Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 September 2012 15.01 EDT

<...>

In March 2012, Lyon was laid off from CNN as part of an unrelated move by the network to outsource its investigative documentaries. Now at work on a book, Lyon began in August to make reference to "iRevolution" on her Twitter account, followed by more than 20,000 people.

On 16 August, Lyon wrote three tweets about this episode. CNNi's refusal to broadcast "iRevolution", she wrote, "baffled producers". Linking to the YouTube clip of the Bahrain segment, she added that the "censorship was devastating to my crew and activists who risked lives to tell [the] story." She posted a picture of herself with Rajab and wrote: "A proponent of peace, @nabeelrajab risked his safety to show me how the regime oppresses the (people) of #Bahrain."

The following day, a representative of CNN's business affairs office called Lyon's acting agent, George Arquilla of Octagon Entertainment, and threatened that her severance payments and insurance benefits would be immediately terminated if she ever again spoke publicly about this matter, or spoke negatively about CNN.

<...>

But CNN's threat had the opposite effect to what was intended. Lyon insists she never signed any confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement with CNN in any case, but she is sanguine about any risk to her severance package. "At this point," Lyon said, "I look at those payments as dirty money to stay silent. I got into journalism to expose, not help conceal, wrongdoing, and I'm not willing to keep quiet about this any longer, even if it means I'll lose those payments."

• Read CNN International's response to this article

• Read Glenn Greenwald's blog response to CNNi's statement

[laundry_queen]

16. She's just telling us what we all suspected here at DU.

I think the most surprising thing is there ACTUALLY is someone out there willing to risk their career to let this nasty cat out of the bag. I thought all MSM journalists were soulless regurgitators of propaganda, good to know there are still a few good people out there. I hope more speak out.

[Jim Lane]

18. Thanks! I've added a brief reference to the Wikipedia article on the Bahraini uprising.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahraini_uprising_(2011%E2%80%93present)#International_coverage

[southernyankeebelle]

26. There really was a time that CNN was a trusted network. Now I don't trust any network on

cable or msm. They are not doing their jobs. I think Current Tv and Democracy Now are about the only 2 that are doing their jobs.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

28. I've run into a few people who believe CNN is "fair"...

...I remind them they were the ones who gave us half the people on FOX "News" including Glenn Beck who was too crazy for FOX.

[Blanks]

30. I read everyone's comments on TV above...

and it made me think of this TED talks video; he talks a little about the motivation behind news stories at the beginning.

...and then it gets interesting.