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CNN has received intense backlash over an article published last week that critics described as a thinly-disguised promotional piece for tourism to Saudi Arabia.
In a piece published Saturday and headlined, "Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition. But will tourists want to visit?" CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson wrote about the "incredible things" he has experienced in Saudi Arabia over the past two decades, including climbing mountains, scuba diving, and driving rally cars.
"Yet none of these has affected me as much as the moment I felt Saudi change," Robertson said in the piece. "It's no exaggeration to say that the recent social upheaval in the country has been profound and fast."
Robertson described "a sense of lightness, a freedom to make choices" among Saudis after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stripped power from what Robertson described as "religious police."
CNN ACCUSED OF 'LITERALLY PUBLISHING CHINESE PROPAGANDA'
"Decades of oppressive psychological pressure to conform to the conservative strictures of Islam have fallen away. And today, freedom is blossoming, albeit still controlled by the invisible lines of most Gulf states: enjoy, have fun but don't get ahead of the leadership," Robertson explained. "Outdoor cafes along new festive looking pavements are abuzz with men and women out for fun, to meet, to shop, to chat, to relax."
The CNN editor highlighted that women now "work in offices side by side with men, something that was illegal until a few years ago" and credited the social upheaval to the crown prince's "decision to challenge the clerics who'd given rise to the generations of orthodoxy."
"Human rights activists have been jailed, dissenters including journalist Jamal Khashoggi brutally murdered, yet MBS has such support for what he has done that so far the young seem OK with it," Robertson said about the Saudi leader.
Robertson then noted a "remarkable boom" in tourism despite the coronavirus pandemic, much of it driven by locals visiting Saudi Arabia's ancient landscape, and suggested that the industry can thrive in the years to come.
"If MBS's promises hold longer than a shimmering desert mirage, as the kingdom's young population fervently believe, the world will find much worth discovering," Robertson concluded.
However, as Mediaite noted on Tuesday, CNN's article was blasted on social media since it was published.
"You can imprison women activists and charge them with terrorism, and murder and dispose the body of a political dissident with a hacksaw, and still get this kind of [PR] coverage. I’m flabbergasted," Arab writer Hend Amry reacted.
"Propaganda so thick you’d need a bone saw to cut through it. Just jaw-dropping stuff," political scientist Jules Boykoff wrote.
"A case-study in Saudi propaganda from CNN's 'International Diplomatic Editor,'" liberal journalist Karim Zidan similarly tweeted.
"Wow. Zero accountability for murder," progressive activist Melissa Byrne said.
"Have you NO shame? Spewing propaganda for murderous Saudi dictator MBS & on CNN no less. Why would anyone visit the kingdom of butcher bone saw who killed journalist Khashoggi, jails/ tortures activists, sends death squads to kill critics & tortures his relatives into submission?" University of Miami visiting professor Rula Jebreal slammed the article.
"On the plus side, women can legally operate a motor vehicle now. On the downside, they hacked up a journalist and US resident with a bone saw," Defense News reporter David Larter quipped.
"This is literally propaganda for a genocidal dictator," progressive journalist Walker Bragman declared.
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
This wouldn't be the first fime CNN was accused of publishing propaganda on behalf of a foreign nation. Back in April, CNN was accused of "literally publishing Chinese propaganda" after running a report that cited a media outlet controlled by the Chinese government.
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Following backlash, CNN overhauled its report by expressing some more skepticism of China's claims while putting a stronger emphasis on the fact that its sourcing also came from a Chinese-controlled outlet.
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