Editorial Content

Bad News Photos Not Allowed?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/12/26

Headline:  “Opinion | You won’t believe why the Pentagon barred photographers from its briefings”

Subhead:  “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s aides objected to ‘unflattering’ photos of him — in the middle of a war”

“Boy, oh boy. These guys in the Trump administration. Just when you think they can’t get any more petty and thin-skinned and, to paraphrase one of their favorite words, snowflaky, they find another way to bellyache about something.

“The latest?

“The Washington Post’s Scott Nover writes, ‘The Defense Department has barred press photographers from briefings on the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran after they published photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed ‘unflattering,’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/pete-hegseth-unflattering-photos/

Media and Regime Collapse

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel and Sophie Lawton, 3/12/26

Headline: “Right-wing media embrace “regime collapse” in Iran”

Subhead: “Fox’s Jack Keane: ‘You’re going to take that regime and put it on a pathway for its eventual collapse, and what follows after that is not particularly clear. And I think that’s OK.’ ”

“Prominent right-wing media figures have embraced regime collapse as a desirable, or at least acceptable, outcome of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Although most of these commentators are light on specifics, in many cases they acknowledge that what they’re calling for is something that looks more like a failed state than a transitional government. . .”

“. . .on March 4, prime-time host [Fox News] Jesse Watters praised the goal of regime collapse twice while cheerleading for the war in general. ‘Operation Epic Fury has entered a new phase — a shock and we campaign to trigger regime collapse,’ Watters said. ‘Anything can happen, but this war is off to the best start in American military history.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/right-wing-media-embrace-regime-collapse-iran

Oily Media

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Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleate, 3/10/26

Headline:  “Trump’s media allies embrace oil wars”

Subhead:  “Amid encouragement from right-wing media, Trump is reportedly considering seizing Iran’s oil”

“Soon after President Donald Trump launched his war against Iran, Fox News and Newsmax personalities began talking about the possibility of Trump taking control of Iran’s oil industry, and multiple news reports now say the administration is not ruling out such a move.

“This development follows months of encouragement from right-wing media figures to do a similar takeover of Venezuela’s oil industry, which Trump embraced after taking military action to depose President Nicolás Maduro. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-media-allies-embrace-oil-wars

Trust the Media?

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Article in The Hill by Bernard Goldberg, 3/6/26

Headline: “With media distrust at an all-time high, journalists must do some soul-searching”

“Just about every day a new poll drops — and when it shows how unpopular President Trump is, the so-called mainstream media can’t wait to blast it across the screen. Breaking news! Flashing graphics! Panels of experts nodding gravely.

“Bad news for the president is good news for liberals — whether they’re in the media or just watching it.

“But there’s one poll the media treats like it has a contagious disease. It comes out every year from Gallup. And it measures something inconvenient: trust in the media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/opinion/5769193-media-trust-erosion-journalism/

Newspaper Gets it Right

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/4/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Inside The Star Tribune’s coverage of the Minneapolis immigration raids”

Subhead:  “Publisher and CEO Steve Grove shares how the paper balanced aggressive reporting with care for journalists covering a deeply personal story”

“One of the biggest news stories of 2026 has been the immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, and the protests that have gone along with those operations. Some 4,000 federal agents descended on the Twin Cities back in January, sparking a story that gathered massive national attention.

“The story tragically gained even more attention on Jan. 7 when Renee Good, a poet and mother of three, was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Two weeks later, an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent.

“As I said, this was a huge national story. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/minnesota-star-tribune-coverage-ice-raids/

No Bad News Allowed!

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 3/4/26

Headline:  “Hegseth cares more about ‘fake’ media coverage than dead troops”

“On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth railed against accurate reporting on the deaths of American soldiers that have occurred thanks to President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran.

“Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Hegseth parroted Trump’s use of the phrase “fake news” to describe fact-based reporting on news reflecting negatively on the administration. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/4/2371618/-Hegseth-cares-more-about-fake-media-coverage-than-dead-troops

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Article in Mediaite by Willa Pope Robbins, 4/4/26

Headline: ” ‘WTF?’ Dan Abrams Slams Trump Administration’s Attacks on Media for Reporting Soldiers’ Deaths”

“Mediaite founder Dan Abrams called out Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s attacks on the media’s coverage of Iran on Wednesday, slamming the secretary for “insulting” the fallen U.S. service members in his attempts to blame news outlets for negative reporting on the conflict. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/wtf-dan-abrams-slams-trump-administrations-attacks-on-media-for-reporting-soldiers-deaths/

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Article in Huffpost by Graeme Demianyk, 3/4/26

Headline: “Pete Hegseth Complains Reporting On Dead Troops Is Trying To ‘Make The President Look Bad’ “

Subhead:  “The defense secretary bemoaned the ‘tragic things’ that make ‘front page news.’ “

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday suggested the media’s reporting of American troops killed after the U.S. went to war with Iran is only to make President Donald Trump “look bad.”

“In an astonishing attack on journalists during a news briefing at the Pentagon, the former Fox News host and Army veteran was touting the early achievements of Trump’s conflict in the Middle East when he complained about ‘tragic things’ making ‘front page news.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hegseth-troops-killed-media-trump_n_69a87b30e4b0865be0c6d334?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

Media Projecting War on Someone Else?

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Article in FAIR by Julie Hollar, 3/4/26

Headline: ” ‘What Do Americans Think?’—and by ‘Americans,’ We Mean Right-Wing Texans”

Subhead:  “Media are still trying to turn Trump’s decision into a problem for the party that didn’t launch the unpopular war rather than for the one that did.”

“Polling before and immediately after President Donald Trump’s Iran attacks has shown clear public opposition to war with Iran. . .”

“While public opposition to the war since it began has received fairly widespread coverage, at the New York Times, public opinion was framed in an entirely different way: The paper spotlighted six right-wing Texans in a piece (3/2/26) purporting to illustrate the question . . .”

“It’s one of the most egregious examples yet of the Times‘ ongoing series we like to call ‘Trump Supporters Support Trump’ (e.g., FAIR.org, 2/15/17, 7/24/19, 2/4/26). Frankly, it’s hard to come up with any explanation for this wildly skewed framing, other than offering a sop to right-wing critics of the paper. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/what-do-americans-think-and-by-americans-we-mean-right-wing-texans/

Did Media Forget Epstein?

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Article in Mediaite by Sean JAmes, 3/3/26

Headline: ” ‘Propaganda Slop’: Lightning Rod Journalist Calls Epstein Saga the ‘Worst Covered Story’ in Decades”

“Prominent Substack writer Michael Tracey argued that the Jeffrey Epstein saga stands out as the ‘worst covered story’ in decades in a new feature story published by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

THR dubbed Tracey the ‘Face of Epstein Skepticism’ in its headline, and with good reason. Tracey has fought the widespread belief that Epstein was running a massive pedophile network for rich politicians and celebrities on both his Substack blog and on X, where users frequently rip him for questioning how sordid Epstein really was. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/propaganda-slop-lightning-rod-journalist-calls-epstein-saga-the-worst-covered-story-in-decades/

Some Media Justify Bombing?

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Article in FAIR by Belén Fernández, 3/2/26

Headline:  “US Media Mostly Care for Iranians When They Can Be Used to Justify Bombing”

“. . .In the aftermath of the strikes, certain US corporate media outlets unleashed ostensible critiques of the war—having apparently spontaneously forgotten their own fundamental role in paving the warpath by devoting the past several decades to demonizing the Iranian government (or ‘regime,’ as we are required to refer to imperial foes). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/us-media-mostly-care-for-iranians-when-they-can-be-used-to-justify-bombing/

What Should MAGA Media Do Now. . .?

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Article in The Guardian by J Oliver Conroy, 3/2/26

Headline:  ” ‘Open betrayal’ or ‘just and imperative’? Trump’s Iran strikes divide conservative media”

Subhead:  “Trump’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran has divided the American right – from Murdoch’s cheerleaders to Maga isolationists”

“As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to get the US out of ‘endless wars’, put ‘America first’ and focus on domestic policy. . .”

“Now the Trump administration’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran has shocked the US and the world. It has also divided conservative media in the US – with many journalists and pundits on the right celebrating Trump’s decision to confront a longtime American foe, but others expressing dismay or confusion at the revival of a Bush-style interventionism . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/02/trump-iran-strikes-right-wing-conservative-media

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Article in Media Matters by Noah Dowe, Zachary Pleat & Gideon Taaffe, 3/2/26

Headline: “MAGA media feud erupts over Trump’s war against Iran: ‘We’re not supposed to be running around doing this anymore.’ “

Subhead:  ” ‘An illegitimate regime’ vs. ‘Pimps for the enemy’ “

“Media figures in right-leaning spaces are bickering about President Donald Trump’s war on Iran. The strikes so far have reportedly killed multiple Iranian leaders and many civilians; three American service members have reportedly been killed in action, more seriously wounded, and Trump said that there likely will be more casualties.

“Many prominent right-wing figures spoke out in praise of the war.. .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/maga-media-feud-erupts-over-trumps-war-against-iran-were-not-supposed-be-running