A meme shared by social media users shows a screenshot of a fabricated CNN report with altered photographs of the Memphis police officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols. However, no such news report by CNN exists.
Examples can be seen (here), (here) and (here).
The screenshot appears to show a frame from a CNN breaking news segment hosted by journalist Lynda Kinkade with the chyron, “FIVE WHITE SUPREMACISTS CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF BELOVED SPACE ENGINEER TYRE NICHOLS.”
The screenshot shows the five Black Memphis officers charged with the murder of motorist Tyre Nichols, who was beaten after being pulled over for reckless driving and died of his injuries, as reported by Reuters (here). The photographs have been altered to dramatically increase the brightness, making the officers’ skin look lighter.
The text accompanying the screenshot reads, “Wait, did CNN really adjust the brightness to make the officers look white?”
However, no such news segment with this chyron was broadcast by CNN, according to a search of the network’s website (here) .
A representative for CNN told Reuters via email that the image is fabricated.
The screenshot was created using a meme template used for a variety of other satirical news reports, as seen (here ).
The image of Kinkade in the template comes from an actual 2016 CNN segment in which she was reporting on El Chapo returning to prison, and can be seen at the 0:46 mark (here).
VERDICT
Altered/satire. The screenshot purporting to show a CNN segment was created as a meme.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.