by CNN to report selectively, repetitively, and falsely in order to sway public opinion in favor of direct American aggression against Iran and Syria, and that this was common practice under CNN. She subsequently repeated this claim, addressing the degraded state of journalistic ethics in an interview during which she also discussed the Bahraini episode, suggesting paid-for content was also taken from Georgia, Kazakhstan, and other states, that the War on Terrorism had also been employed as a pretext to pre-empt substantive investigative journalism within the U.S., and that following the Bahrain reporting, her investigative department had been terminated and "reorganized", and her severance and employee benefits used as a threat to intimidate and attempt to purchase her subsequent silence. Lyon claimed to have met with Tony Maddox, president of CNN International, twice about this issue in 2011 and had claimed that during the second meeting she was threatened and intimated to stop speaking on the matter. CNN issued a detailed response to Lyon's claims about its coverage of Bahrain. Lyon also claimed on the Russian news channel RT that CNN reporters, headed by Maddox, have been instructed to over-cover Iran as a form of propaganda, and that CNN International has been paid by the Bahraini government to produce and air news segments intentionally painting them in a positive light. CNN became the official broadcaster of one of the biggest events of the UAE in 2021, when Dubai was hosting the Expo 2020. The official announcement was made in July 2021. However, months later, human rights organizations began to raise concerns around CNN's participation in the event, pointing out that the CNN was lending its legitimacy to the Emirates' propaganda efforts. Analyzing CNN's coverage of the UAE over 10 months, critics accused the news media of running a PR for the UAE. The rights groups also notified of the UAE's poor human rights and women's rights records They further urged for CNN to be transparent about its dealings with the Arab nation. Other dismissals On July 7, 2010, Octavia Nasr, senior Middle East editor and a CNN journalist for 20 years, was fired after she expressed admiration on her Twitter account for a militant Muslim cleric and former Hezbollah leader who had recently died. See also International broadcasting List of news channels References External links CNNj official website 1985 establishments in the United States Television channels and stations established in