The ‘Free Press’ Claim vs. Ground Realities
- The Washington Post Controversy: Journalism or Provocative Politics?
- Linguistic Bias in Iran Coverage: From ‘Rogue State’ to ‘Self-Defense’
- Silence on War Crimes: The Media’s Moral Failure
- Trump’s Threats and Violations of International Law
- The Paradox of ‘Progressive’ Media: Principles vs. Practice
- Constructing the Narrative Against Iran: History and the Present
- Human Tragedy vs. Geopolitical Analysis
- Media, Power, and the ‘Deep State’: An Examination of Connections
Has Western Media Lost Its Credibility?
Serious Questions Over the Impartiality of Western Media: Bias in the Coverage of the Iran-US Conflict, Silence on War Crimes, and a Deepening Crisis for the Concept of a ‘Free Press’—An Analysis.
Shame on the Western 'free' press
By Justice Markandey Katju
The Western press claims to be free and liberal, but consider this.
The Washington Post, a well-known US supposedly 'liberal' newspaper, openly called for the assassination of the Iranian who went for negotiations to Islamabad with the US delegation.
Is this a free journal, part of the so-called fourth estate, which is meant to serve the American people, who are overwhelmingly against the US war against Iran ( as all opinion polls show ), or has it become part of the first estate, loyally serving its master, the US government, which started an aggressive war against Iran ?
And the rest of the Western media is no better.
Western media coverage of Iran is usually biased and hostile to Iran. Its mainstream outlets frequently use loaded terminology like "rogue state", "terrorist regime" or '' an existential threat to the West '' to brand Iran as an aggressor, while presenting U.S./Israeli actions as "self-defence" or "retaliation".
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NQLN7XeLWQ4
Since the onset of “Operation Fury,” Western media, even those claiming to be liberal or progressive, have largely refused to condemn the US aggression against Iran. Despite US-Israeli strikes hitting schools, hospitals, and utilities in Iran on a regular basis, there is a striking deafening silence of reporting that labels these actions as war crimes.
President Trump has threatened to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, and eradicating Iranian civilization, explicitly stating that if there was no deal ( i.e. surrender by Iran ), US forces will hit each and every one of Iran's power plants, bridges, etc. Under international law, targeting such civilian infrastructure is strictly prohibited, yet the Western media continues to turn a Nelson's eye to this prelude to war criminality.
Western 'progressive' media have continuously said that they are about honest, independent, and progressive journalism, stating the truth and holding the powerful to account. This implies honest journalism, fact-checking, providing context to ensure accountability, the maintenance of editorial independence, and a focus in their international coverage on exposing issues so that the cause of justice, in this case international justice, is served. But the truth is otherwise.
This failure to hold the U.S. and Israel to account for their crimes is not accidental; it is systemic. While 'progressive' Western outlets claim to state the truth, in practice, they often function as a handmaiden or a weapon for Western forces and interests.
What we see in Western media reporting on the Iran war is not just the absence of their lofty principles, but much worse. Even before the war began, there was a consistent pattern of anti-Iran regime framing by Western media. The Western media has continuously fuelled fear of Iran, though the true threat lies in the West's aggressive foreign policies, not Iran.
The human suffering is frequently buried under geopolitical chess analysis. When the girls’ elementary school in Minab was bombed, killing 168 school girls, Western media reports were quick to emphasize the proximity of military targets. This narrative sanitizes the event, transforming a war crime into an accidental byproduct and collateral damage of a legitimate operation.
What we are seeing in Western media reporting on Iran is the effort to create a news environment and narrative where the worst allegations, however much they are backed by evidence, about U.S. and Israel war crimes and crimes against humanity, are systematically downplayed or ignored. This is a continuation of a long-term historical pattern where Oriental or non-Western populations are dehumanized by the Western media to justify violence against them.
Western media outlets continue to reveal their true nature, not as institutions for independent journalism, but as instruments in the hands of political elites, intelligence agencies, and the so-called deep state. These structures increasingly resort to questionable methods, including planting false stories, deliberate spread of disinformation, and direct provocation and jingoism.
Shame on the Western media, which claims to be free and independent.
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
