FACT CHECK: ‘False COVID-19 Cases In Nigeria’ – Did CNN Air This News Chyron?

Matt Noel | Fact Check Reporter

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a CNN news chyron that reads, “False COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.”

Verdict: False

There is no record of CNN ever airing the chyron. It was created using a news chyron generator website.

Fact Check:

The image features CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Beneath their photos, there is a breaking news banner: the chyron reads, “False COVID-19 cases in Nigeria,” while the ticker says, “Nigerian government accused of taking advantage of the pandemic.”

“Covid 19 (sic) cases in Nigeria are false because the government are taking advantage of it to embezzle, launder money and enrich themselves says CNN,” reads the caption. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Nigerians Burning Chinese-Owned Businesses ‘In Retaliation For Attacks On Africans In China’?)

There is, however, no record of CNN airing such a graphic. No matching or similar graphics appear in Grabien, a video clip editing service. A search of CNN transcripts also turned up no reporting about Nigeria “taking advantage of the pandemic.”

The watermark in the upper-right corner of the image indicates it was created on Break Your Own News, a website that allows users to create their own breaking news chyrons. The photo used in the fabricated chyron comes from a March 22 interview between Blitzer and de Blasio, according to AFP Fact Check.

The chyron visible when the screen grab was taken reads, “FEMA declares New York ‘major disaster’ as coronavirus surges.”

Matt Noel

Fact Check Reporter
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