Media Politicize

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

Reporters and Contradictions

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Article in Mother Jones by Anna Merlan, 3/11/26

Headline:  “The Pro-MAGA Press Can’t Agree on How to Cover Trump’s War on Iran”

Subhead:  “A combination of fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. ”

“Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conducted a remarkably peevish press conference on the United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran. At various points, journalists in the briefing room asked—reasonably enough—whether there was ‘a concern of this spiraling into a longer war.’

“ ‘Did you not hear my remarks?’ Hegseth responded, sounding indignant. . .”

“The prickly exchange was notable, considering that the current Pentagon press pool is almost entirely made up of right-wing outlets who typically provide overwhelmingly pro-Trump coverage. The previous Pentagon press corps walked out en masse in October after refusing to sign a restrictive media policy and were largely replaced by a variety of conservative media organizations and influencers. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/maga-press-iran-war-donald-trump/

Boots on the Journalists?

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Article li FAIR, by Drew Favakeh. 3/11/26

Headline: “US News Orgs Nearly Silent on Israel’s Violent Suppression of Journalism”

“The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently published two meticulous reports that further expose Israel’s violent repression of journalism, in its ongoing genocide in Gaza and elsewhere.

“CPJ published a report on February 19 titled ’We Returned From Hell’: Palestinian Journalists Recount Torture in Israeli Prisons.’ CPJ collected 59 in-depth testimonies from Palestinian journalists released from Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.

“The report goes into excruciating and painstaking detail about the experiences of 56 journalists, who told CPJ they were ‘repeatedly beaten inside prisons by authorities, as well as during arrest and transfer to the facilities.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/us-news-orgs-nearly-silent-on-israels-violent-suppression-of-journalism/

No Press Pass For You

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Article in AP by Martha Bellisle, 3/10/26

Headline:  “Judge denies restraining order for conservative media figures who sought press passes”

“SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state lawmakers were within their rights when they declined to issue press passes to three conservative media figures, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a case that echoes a national discussion over who qualifies as a journalist.

“The Democratic-controlled Washington House of Representatives early this year declined to issue press credentials that would have granted the three access to parts of the Capitol in Olympia that are off-limits to the general public. The body said they were not bona fide journalists because they are participants in the political arena — advocating for certain agendas and hosting or speaking at rallies. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/press-pass-podcasters-conservative-media-a8f5b5ceac3627dc1931b07a87952551

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

Fox Gives Advice to Tanker Pilots

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Article in Daily Kos by Walter Einenkel, 3/9/36

Headline:  “Sailing through a war zone is no big deal, says Fox News”

“The crew over at ‘Fox & Friends’ is twisting itself into a propaganda pretzel trying to spin President Donald Trump’s Iran war, with hosts Brian Kilmeade and Lawrence Jones unabashedly sharing their bizarre thoughts Monday. . .”

“Kilmeade then chastised oil-tanker captains for refusing to sail through a potential war zone in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If you want to diminish the Iranian threat, if you want to make sure that this ends up with complete Iran capitulation, sow some guts and go through that strait and do it,” he said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/9/2372385/-Sailing-through-a-war-zone-is-no-big-deal-says-Fox-News?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_9&pm_medium=web

FCC Doesn’t Probe Fox News?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 3/9/26

Headline:  “Shouldn’t Brendan Carr be launching an FCC probe of Fox Broadcasting Co.?”

“Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr faces an important test of his stated standards for news organizations this week: If he’s not just looking to punish media outlets for being insufficiently deferential to President Donald Trump, he must launch a news distortion investigation of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Broadcasting. . .”

“Fox News’ right-wing propagandists would lose their minds if a Democratic president did such a thing. But on Sunday morning, the network instead seemed to hide the president’s disrespect toward the dead. While purporting to cover the previous day’s event, Fox & Friends Weekend aired months-old footage. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/shouldnt-brendan-carr-be-launching-fcc-probe-fox-broadcasting-co

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/

Open-Ended Media?

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Article in Media Matters by Payton Armstrong, 3/4/26

Headline: “Christian media figures have claimed that the Iran war could signal “the second coming” or the ‘End Times’ and said ‘we are watching incredible prophecy in this time come to pass’ “

“Right-wing Christian media are praising President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israel in launching military strikes against Iran, with some figures likening Trump to Cyrus the Great and Constantine the Great and claiming that ‘we are watching incredible prophecy in this time come to pass.’. . .”

Read the full article at”

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/christian-media-figures-have-claimed-iran-war-could-signal-second-coming-or-end