DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump administration denounces CNN for airing messages from Iranian leaders

The Trump administration denounced CNN on Thursday for airing a portion of the new Iranian supreme leader’s public statement, the second time in three days that he’s targeted the network for reporting on how the regime is responding to the American attacks.

The attack illustrated the care news outlets must take in reporting during wartime, and the responsibilities of American journalists to report the perspective of countries its government views as enemies. It also exposed inconsistencies. The message of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during his first public statement since he succeeded his father, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, was widely available elsewhere.

The White House said on social media that “fake news CNN just aired four straight minutes of uninterrupted Iranian state TV, run by the same psychotic and murderous regime that prided itself on brutally slaughtering Americans for 47 years.”

Earlier CNN interview criticized by Trump’s communications leader

Two days earlier, White House communications director Steven Cheung took issue with CNN anchor Erin Burnett’s interview with Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator. Burnett asked Mousavian what he had been hearing about the Iranian government’s interest in having talks with the United States. There wasn’t much, he said.

“Ever notice how CNN just regurgitates quotes and unverified information from Iranian terrorists?” Cheung wrote on X. “Total disgrace. They have become the murderous Iranian Regime’s version of Pravda,” he said, referring to the official newspaper of the former Soviet Union.

CNN did not address Cheung’s statement but did respond to the White House attack on Thursday. It noted that CNN, Sky News and Al Jazeera also showed portions of the ayatollah’s statement live.

“The world is watching with anticipation which direction this war will take,” CNN said. “Purported remarks from Iran’s new supreme leader are a critical component in helping audiences understand where this conflict is heading and were aired for their obvious news value.”

Other news outlets, including The Associated Press, sent out alerts on what Khamenei said. His vow to keep up attacks on other Arab countries in the region and plans to choke off the world’s oil supply were headlines. The New York Times led its website with a story on the speech in its immediate aftermath, later writing that the speech “was an early indication of how the new supreme leader would approach the war, as well as how he would lead the country.”

CNN has long been a favored target of President Donald Trump, dating back to his first term. It’s a particularly vulnerable time for the network with Paramount Global’s agreement to purchase CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, raising questions about its future editorial independence.

CNN showed a news anchor reading a portion of Khameini’s remarks in Farsi, with an English translation. It did not air them in full. After the speech, correspondent Nick Paton Walsh gave a debrief to anchor Kate Bolduan, noting how the non-appearance of the leader — reportedly injured in an air attack — was as important as what he said.

“We were waiting to see the face of the man to have proof of his health and survival,” Walsh said, “and they’ve not met that moment. Instead, a handwritten message, it seems, that mostly reiterates things we kind of already knew.”

A social media message board for Iran’s point of view

The Tech Transparency Project has reported that several Iranian leaders and institutions maintain verified accounts on X, formerly Twitter, owned by Trump ally Elon Musk. CNBC said Thursday that Khamenei has one of them, and an X account with his portrait posted the text of his remarks, available in Farsi and in an English translation.

Even though Khamenei’s father is dead, an account with his portrait was active on Thursday, mainly reposting messages from his son. “The revenge we have in mind is not just because of the martyrdom of the illustrious Leader of the Revolution,” read one message posted Thursday. “Every member of the nation martyred by the enemy is a separate case that demands we seek revenge.”

X is officially blocked in Iran, though many use a virtual private network to bypass restrictions. A message sent to the platform on Thursday was not immediately returned.

There’s a long history of journalists seeking interviews with world leaders, even when they are regarded as enemies of the United States. Most notable was “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace’s interview with Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, when that country was holding Americans hostage.

Thursday’s remarks by Iran’s new supreme leader were absolutely newsworthy and legitimate for CNN to air them, said Jane Ferguson, a veteran international correspondent and founder of the journalism platform Noosphere. It’s not the job of government leaders to pick apart what CNN is reporting, she said.

“We’ve always faced this,” she said, about when reporters interview leaders or other figures hostile to American interests. “This has been a bit of low-hanging fruit for awhile.”

Historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University said that it’s unfair for CNN to be singled out in this instance. He, too, believes it is newsworthy to learn what leaders of an adversary are thinking, but it’s important to make sure that journalists are careful.

“You have to be leery of being used as a propaganda tool by the Iranian regime,” he said. “On the other hand, knowing what the enemy is saying and looking for a sign of a peace offering or a nuance is important … It’s a difficult balance.”

https://apnews.com/article/khamenei...ech-war-6c5d24c0de5469d01c4c41b2b432a879

And trump has found a tag team partner here on Dawgtalkers.

That's their job to report.. Geez, Trump really wants to control the media.

Trump Calls 'Lowlife' Media 'Sick And Demented' Over Iran War Coverage

President Donald Trump tore into news outlets for their coverage of Air Force refueling planes reportedly hit by an Iranian missile strike at a Saudi Arabian air base.

"Yet again, an intentionally misleading headline by the Fake News Media about the five tanker planes that were supposedly struck down at an Airport in Saudi Arabia, and of no further use," Trump wrote Saturday morning on Truth Social. "In actuality, the Base was hit a few days ago, but the planes were not 'struck' or “destroyed.'"

The Wall Street Journal had reported Friday that five tanker planes were "damaged but not fully destroyed" in the strike and that no one was killed, citing U.S. officials.

In his post, Trump accused the Journal, along with The New York Times and "other Lowlife 'Papers' and Media" of wanting the U.S. to "lose the War."

"They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America," he wrote.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/late...cWBzt8q958doE_aem_sbr9N3AsB2KmYnB31MlMQw

You allow the super rich to buy media and print-and then they bow down and kiss the ring-see 60 minutes and wapo
you replace media coverage in pressers because they don't kiss your ass and actually ask some questions. Sure my pillow media should be in a presidential press conference.
in the foreign countries, they are arresting people who film/live stream missile strikes or damage caused by them.

I don't ever watch MS Now other than Morning Joe once in a while and won't watch fox news-I can't stand the our side is always right your always wrong

and for this war-there is much better places to see real coverage-
a couple of europe papers
Drudge has a bunch of different stuff
Al Jazerra
Many twitch accounts have live streams of the middle east
Tik tok has some but they don't seem to be up for long
signancockpit
globalsecurity

This is a brilliant and well worth a 15 minute watch no matter what our politics, as it makes solid points while being somewhat entertaining. It's about censorship in general - so stuck it here.

An all out admission that this administration is at war with and thinks that using the power of the government through the FCC and official government websites to silence anything negative about them is somehow not against the costutution. History has seen this movie before.............

FCC’s Brendan Carr: Trump is ‘winning’ against ‘fake news media’

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr on Friday said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that President Trump is “winning” his feud against the “fake news media.”

Carr told the audience that other politicians “gave way to the legacy national media,” unlike Trump, who the FCC chief said “smashed the façade.”

“President Trump took on the fake news media and President Trump is winning,” he continued. “Look at the results so far. PBS defunded. NPR defunded. Joy Reid, gone from MSNBC. Sleepy-Eyed Chuck Todd, gone. Jim Acosta, gone. John Dickerson, gone. [Stephen] Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough CNN is going to have new ownership as well.”

Paramount Skydance is helmed by David Ellison, the son of Trump ally and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. The company purchased CBS News last year and tapped conservative writer Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. The parent company also won its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which oversees CNN, in February.

David Ellison has said the CNN’s editorial strategy will serve a more politically “diverse” audience; similar remarks were made previously about CBS News.

Carr added on Friday that “we’re not at the point yet –– you know, waving the ‘mission accomplished’ flag,” but repeated that the president is “winning.”

In December, Carr suggested that the FCC was not independent from the administration, despite the website previously labeling it as an “independent government agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.” The word “independent” was removed after the agency’s chief testified before lawmakers.

He recently threatened to crack down on broadcasters over their coverage of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. He wrote earlier this month that broadcasters could have problems renewing their licenses due to their coverage, accusing them of “running hoaxes and news distortions.”

Trump’s war on the news media goes back several years, first amplified during his first campaign for the presidency in 2016. The president has accused much of legacy news media as being “fake news” and has preferred conservative media with reporting favorable toward him and both of his administrations.

Following his return to the White House last year, Trump warned mainstream media outlets that they were “on notice” after ABC and Paramount Global, before it merged with Skydance, settled lawsuits with the administration.

The White House also released a “media bias” tracker on its website in November to accuse news reports of omitting context and claim that they include lies, mischaracterization, bias or malpractice. It features an “offender hall of shame” headlined by The Washington Post, MS Now, CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5805710-brendan-carr-fcc-donald-trump-media-feud-cpac/

Some of the left news describes this as a quagmire.

We have been there a little over 30 days and everything has gone our way. We may be there another 30 and possibly set up a base on one of the islands in the strait. Maybe they need to look at our troops in Europe that we have had there for 70 or so years. Maybe 80 years. That might rightfully be called a quagmire.

Maybe we just move some of the troops in Europe and stick them on an island in the strait to add some additional security to that part of the world. We need to stick around for a good while to be able to swiftly punish them if they make moves to rebuild any of their military operations.

There is a movement afoot that questions the FCC for allowing these mergers... My guess is that in time, you will see some divestment going on ... Anyone with eyes and ears and a brain can see it's a blatant attempt to control the entire media landscape.

Gone Our Way? Really..., You mean like Hormuz? Yeah, that went out way... sure. Last summer Trump said that Iran's Nuke were destroyed... No need to worry about that again...

Then he launches attacks after he'd been told that Iran doesn't pose a nuke threat.....

I'm not fan of Iran.. Not at all.. But this president is a moron with alternative agendas.....

I can help you out Peen - The reason some think this is an absolute chit show and not going well (and it has nothing to do with media perspective, much of the rest of the world things it's a mess) ... and this is off the top of my head and I'll miss some things:

1. 9 months ago we obliterated Iran's Nuke capacity. Trump and Hegseth told us.
2. So this is a war we started thru choice - and it is illegal based on international law.
3. Rubio told us we joined Israel because they were going to strike with or without them. Doesn't really sound like we are in charge here.
4. We've been given a revolving door of reasons or justifications or objectives - regime change, influence on the next regime, remove a threat that didn't exist. Various independents and then someone from the FBI confirmed this.
5. Nearly forgot to mention that the negotiations were going well, concessions never before made had been committed to.
6. Before we went Trump and the administration said we were doing it for the people (who were being brutally killed and suppressed) - that lie/narrative has died a quiet lonely death.
7. We bombed the crap out of them and were very soon told we'd won. We were told they had no means to use missiles or fight back.
8. At which point they did what they said they would do and tried to make this as painful as possible for the rotw - firing missiles and rockets at neighboring states and causing the issue in Strs of Hormuz.
9. Probably worth a mention of the $1/2 Billion of insider trading that went on before Trumps big announcement.
10. Trump claimed all the leaders were dead - there was no one to talk to - but he was negotiating with someone... a top man. He said all that contradiction in the space of 3 minutes.
11. Iran mocked him - said there was no negotiation and then promptly ratcheted up there attacks and strikes.
12. Trump's been asking for help from NATO - which this war has absolutely NOTHING to do with. NATO countries told him so and since then Trump's been attacking western allies, acting like a child and being a jerk. He's now threatening to exit NATO.
13. He said he didn't need help and then 24 hours later was asking for help (from France, UK and NATO).
14. Colin Powell said something along the lines - "once you break it, you are going to own it, and we're going to be responsible" == what Trump has done is Break it now tell the world to go fix the mess he made in Hormuz Straights.
15. His address last night was an absolute incoherent ramble of nonsense. He just claimed that if the war hadn't started Iran would have let off a Nuke by now.

Bottom line-

- No real regime change. No control over the regime change. The new ruler is the son of the old ruler - he may be more dangerous. We don't know.
- We have not helped the people.
- They were not a nuclear threat before - they still aren't.
- World economy has been impacted. It might take a while to recover.
- We've further distanced and provoked NATO allies.
- Price of oil (right now) $107 barrel
- Trump's too stupid to realize that even if the US doesn't get it's oil thru the Straights of Hormuz - any shipping issues there impacts the GLOBAL price of oil.
- Your solution of putting more US boots on the ground in the middle east to police a region is the very definition of quagmire.

The whole entire thing is an unmitigated disaster. The world and the US is not safer today and the threat of Iran and any shenanigans has not diminished, if anything maybe, just like what Israel did with Genocide in Gaza - you've just bred and filled the ranks for future generations to hate the US.

This isn't the Iran war thread. This is a thread about the trump administration is threatening the broadast licenses of networks for not saying and reporting things the way they want them to. It's about the FCC chair admitting this administration is at war with the media. How they aren't supposed to report anything the Iranian leaders say and only report what trump says. You do realize that's how they do things in places like Russia and China, right?

And BTW- The only time we have went into the middle east that it hasn't turned into a quagmire is when Bush invoked operation Desert Storm. A coalition was built leading up to that operation and there was a very clear agenda. Run Iraq out of Kuwait. That lasted a grand total of 100 hours.

You seem not to remember how that worked. You don't start a war first and then tell people it's time for them to get involved. You build a coalition first. You must have forgotten about Shock and Awe and how huge that bombing campaign was in Iraq. How Bush stood on the deck of that aircraft carrier under the "Mission Accomplished Banner" well before the mission was accomplished or how we spent almost 20 years in Afghanistan and the Taliban is still in charge.

So now, after all of that recent history you think it's unrealistic to think not only the media but the people themselves don't wonder if this will turn out the same way? Come on man.

Trump told the American people just months ago that he had obliterated Iran's nuclear program. That it had been set back years and maybe decades. Then just eight months later he tells you they are on the verge of having a nuke. So was he lying to you then or was he lying to you when he started this war?

I can't really agree or disagree with "everything has gone our way" since it's not really clear what "way" we wanted things to go.

Ever since this admin has started mucking around in Iran, the objective has morphed and undergone so many changes/shifts... and yet somehow during the whole thing it's never really been clear.