Media Blackout on the Iran War Exposes the Fake News Media in America

[CPT Savajo]

With the apparent lack of coverage of reality in the Middle East war with Iran, Americans can clearly see the fake news mainstream media for the biased lying bastards they always were and are. If you still believe the billion dollar corporate media is on your side you don't know who you're up against.

[txdot-guy]

Or you’re just wrong.

[CPT Savajo]

Not wrong, it's just that Democrats and Republicans are easier to control with propaganda. Meaning don't show them and tell them what reality is on the ground.

[1blackman1]

What is the reality we’re missing

[txdot-guy]

Hundreds of millions of people in the US alone believe that the mainstream media is truthful about the vast majority of the news that they produce. I would suspect billions of people in most modern countries believe in the mainstream media. The exception is of course those countries which directly influence or control the news in their own countries. Like China or Russia.

Either we are all being duped on a regular basis by a vast conspiracy which involves hundreds of thousands of individuals across multiple continents and countries including all of Europe, Latin America, North America, most of South America, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Portions of the Middle East, India, most of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Please forgive me if I’ve missed a few places.

Or maybe your belief that we are all being lied to is more than a bit delusional?

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

Either we are all being duped on a regular basis by a vast conspiracy...

Or maybe your belief that we are all being lied to is more than a bit delusional?

Or maybe the truth is in between?


On Iran, Is Only Bad News Fit to Print?

Media partisanship has been worse than ever in this war.

By Mark Penn and Andrew Stein
March 16, 2026 11:39 am ET


President Trump’s complaints about the news coverage of the Iran war are predictable - and entirely justified. “We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning,” he wrote Friday morning on Truth Social. Pick up Sunday’s Times, and it’s as if the editors took that as a command rather than a criticism.

“War Sends More Tremors Through a Shaken World Economy,” reads a headline across the top of the front page, with the speculative subheadline “Fallout From Prolonged Conflict With Iran Could Bring ‘Catastrophic Consequences.’ ” Among the catastrophes the article cites: “In Kenya, tea growers and traders worried their exports to Iran would rot on the dock.” The other story above the front-page fold is a critique of the defense secretary: “Hegseth’s Vengeful Rhetoric Grew From Experience in Iraq.”

Inside the paper are six more pages of war headlines, almost all relentlessly negative. There are disdainful pieces about the secretary of state (“For Trump and Rubio, It’s Destroy and Deal”) and about the central U.S. ally in the effort (“U.S. War Alliance with Israel Is Reshaping Mideast, but Carries Risk” and “Netanyahu Has War He Always Wanted, but on Trump’s Terms”). There’s more economic gloom (“Seized Oil Tankers Are Costing U.S. Tens of Millions” and “Oil Price Surge Rattles Weak Pakistan Economy”).

The biggest development since Saturday’s paper was the U.S. strike on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export hub. The president said that the raid “totally obliterated” military facilities on the island and that he had decided to spare oil infrastructure “for reasons of decency.” Clearly the U.S. could strike them and do much more damage. The Times headline depicted the raid as ineffective: “Iran Firm on Strait Blockade Despite U.S. Attack at Oil Hub.” The only positive headline about the war effort: “To Fight Iran’s Drones, U.S. Taps Knowledge Hard-Won in Ukraine.”

Like the Times, much of the news media seems determined to advance a narrative that Mr. Trump is wrong about everything and that the U.S. is getting its clock cleaned by a powerful Iranian war machine that has successfully made the transition to new leadership.

Journalists have a right and a duty to report bad news and to question Pollyannaish reports from the U.S. government. But many seem to be going beyond that and rooting for America to lose - against an enemy that is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror, that has killed thousands of unarmed protesters, and that stockpiled thousands of ballistic missiles while seeking nuclear weapons, which its rulers promised to use against the U.S. and Israel.

Largely absent are even the most basic stories analyzing Iran’s losses and the fate of their supposed leadership. Why? What seems to be driving the coverage is reportorial partisanship and the Democrats’ determination to oppose this president no matter what he does. We’ll see, again, how that works out for them.

Mr. Penn was a pollster and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, 1995-2008. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and CEO of Stagwell Inc. Mr. Stein served as New York City Council president, 1986-93.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/on-iran-...rint-1ac66649?

[pxmcc]

^^no, more like we told you so..

it is what it is. Trump got credit for wins like taking out senior leadership. but he is getting properly blamed for higher gas prices. and he's getting properly blamed for having no exit strategy and no plan for the Strait of Hormuz.

fake news is Trump's label for inconvenient facts, such as the fact that he lost fair and square in 2020.

[Precious_b]

*I* believe that the monies backing this big fiasco could be better spent elsewhere.

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by lustylad

Journalists have a right and a duty to report bad news and to question Pollyannaish reports from the U.S. government. But [B]many seem to be going beyond that and rooting for America to lose - against an enemy that is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror, that has killed thousands of unarmed protesters, and that stockpiled thousands of ballistic missiles while seeking nuclear weapons, which its rulers promised to use against the U.S. and Israel.

Largely absent are even the most basic stories analyzing Iran’s losses and the fate of their supposed leadership. Why? What seems to be driving the coverage is reportorial partisanship and the Democrats’ determination to oppose this president no matter what he does. We’ll see, again, how that works out for them.

The author of this opinion piece does make a point that the media focuses a lot of its attention on Trump and the stupid things he does. I also think that they focus an inordinate amount of time and attention to the political dysfunction in our government.

I also believe that this is by design and that Trump wants it that way.

Trump’s use of lies and late night social media rants, His blatant ignoring of precedent and the law, His outright corrupt behavior, His egotistic embrace of his name on public buildings and currency, His rebuilding of Washington DC and the White House in his grandiose image. All these things are designed to capture the attention of the media and the public.

Is it any wonder that the media reflects either the aggrandizement of Trump on the right or the disgust of the left.

Media reporting in a capitalist society requires a deft touch and a publicist who is not crazy. Trump is neither of those things.

Therefore what you see is a reflection of the chaos created by Trump and his administration.

[pxmcc]

^^indeed..

[ICU 812]

Originally Posted by CPT Savajo

With the apparent lack of coverage of reality in the Middle East war with Iran, Americans can clearly see the fake news mainstream media for the biased lying bastards they always were and are. If you still believe the billion dollar corporate media is on your side you don't know who you're up against.

^^^+++

We only need look back on 2020 to see the fake news for what it is . . .and the agendas of those who drive it.

Both the pandemic dislocations and the George Floyd riots were driven by fake news imposed on us all by folks who did n ot have the best interests of the public at heart.

These things have all been discussed, even litigated before and are now settled as fact.

The whole "President Biden is fine" story line was faked by those close to him and by the news outlets who knew it too. The lie of Biden's mental health was exposed every time he spoke in public, yet the fake news kept shoving that lie at us every day . . .until they couldn't.

Further back, I will never forget, " . . .if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor . . ."

Unfortunately there may be some on this message board who are too young to remember the Obama administration . . .or the Johnson years. The fake news supported b both when needed to push the blatant lies of the left.