If you've paid attention to the legacy media in America and many other Western nations over the past 10 days -- and we pray that you haven't (it's our job to do that so you don't have to suffer) -- you might have noticed a prevailing theme in 2026.
Smearing the Trump administration for taking out the narcoterrorist dictator Nicolas Maduro. Smearing the Trump administration for investigating tens or maybe hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud from illicit Somali immigrants and Democrat politicians. Smearing the Trump administration for enforcing federal immigration law. And, of course, smearing an ICE agent for defending himself against a woman who tried to run him over (thereby implicitly smearing the Trump administration).
Basically, just smearing the Trump administration for any reason, usually by inventing fictional narratives and calling that journalism.
You know what you haven't seen from the media in 2026?
ANY coverage of what could very well be the biggest international news -- and GREAT news at that -- since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Unless you are on X regularly or follow more independent news sources, you might have no idea that after nearly 50 years of tyrannical extremist rule, the regime in Iran is on the verge of falling.
The Iranian people are waging one of the most courageous anti-tyranny movements of our time against the Islamic Republic.
— Tahmineh Dehbozorgi (@DeTahmineh) January 9, 2026
The media’s silence is disgraceful.
This regime will fall—and history will remember who stood for liberty and who looked away. pic.twitter.com/g8mOoL5V7A
I just checked the big news sites (CBS, CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox) and Fox was the only one with the events in Iran featured. Others had it buried way below a bunch of Minnesota and Venezuela stories. Also opened Apple News and the only coverage was by EuroNews. https://t.co/QP2BR4ISIF
— Jordan L. Michelson (@JLM4CivilRights) January 9, 2026
And it has been this way since the revolt against the mullahs began at the end of December.
I can understand some initial hesitancy. After all, this isn't the first time the Iranian people have tried to rise up against their Islamic theocracy. It hasn't worked out well in other recent attempts.
But we are going on nearly two weeks of revolution in the world's biggest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism, and the media has barely said 'Boo!'
Until yesterday, I could find almost nothing about Iran in legacy media searches. A week ago, there was one story from NBC claiming that there were some 'economic protests' taking place.
President Trump vows to intervene if Iran shoots or violently kills peaceful demonstrators, as economic protests spread and evolved into deadly unrest. https://t.co/rnIlunCdH0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 2, 2026
Since then? Almost nothing.
And it's not just in America. Over in the UK, the BBC had a complete blackout of the news until yesterday, when they finally published a lead story about it due to public pressure. But it was a very weak lead story.
Breaking news: After 12 days of ignoring the protests in Iran, BBC News released a video with no additional context and no acknowledgment of the country’s blocked internet access, thank you Ayatollah BBC! https://t.co/k4G5vA1eDa
— Shin (@shaghayeghabs78) January 9, 2026
Sky News went in ... well, I'll just say 'a different direction.'
After ignoring the story for nearly two weeks, that media outlet decided that the way to report about it was to quote Iranian state media.
BREAKING: 'Terrorist agents' from Israel and US have sparked violence in Iran, state media claims https://t.co/DS68ccIkOM
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 9, 2026
This comes as no surprise from a network that quotes the 'Gaza Health Ministry' (i.e., Hamas) as Gospel truth.
There was one exception in American legacy media. At the beginning of this year, Bari Weiss and her lead anchor, Tony Dokoupil, promised to do better. On the Iranian unrest, they have.
Dokoupil and CBS have broadcast several stories about the uprising over several days.
Widening demonstrations sparked by Iran's ailing economy spread Thursday into the Islamic Republic's rural provinces. Six people were killed, Iran's Fars News Agency reports, marking the first deaths in five days of protests. pic.twitter.com/0KMoqDzrsv
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) January 2, 2026
Thousands protested in Iran against the government and economic struggles, leaving nearly 20 dead and hundreds arrested. pic.twitter.com/DwpTmlTRnq
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) January 6, 2026
Nationwide protests continue in Iran, where at least 36 people have been killed and over 2,000 arrested. The Iranian government says it’s sending $7 monthly payments to help citizens afford basic necessities. pic.twitter.com/GytLWvRets
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) January 8, 2026
Unlike Sky News, you could practically hear the sarcasm drip from Dokoupil's mouth as he reported about the '$7 monthly payments.'
Buildings have been set on fire and national flags ripped in half as huge crowds of anti-government protesters marched through Iran’s capital and cities across the country. The protests mark the largest wave of unrest in three years, fueled by deepening economic distress —… pic.twitter.com/zQi03D36Dt
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 9, 2026
I wrote recently that it will take years, if not decades, for Weiss to rebuild any credibility with the American people, but this is a pretty good start, at least on the international stage.
CBS was the only one, though. Other than that, almost nothing.
A few days ago, Venezuela was The Only Story That Mattered. Polls came in, and … poof, it’s gone.
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) January 9, 2026
All of a sudden, Minnesota is The Only Story That Matters. (Sorry, Iran, you don’t serve the leftist narrative.)
It’s as if the media outrage of the day is manipulated somehow.
Yeah. 'As if.'
Meanwhile, on X, there has been a flood of videos, reports, and commentary about Iran, with many people hoping against hope that the murderous Iranian regime may actually topple.
BREAKING: An elderly Iranian woman cries out after a regime projectile strikes her in the face:
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 10, 2026
“I’m not afraid! I’m not afraid! I’ve been dead for 47 years!”
This is the courage of Iran’s people.
pic.twitter.com/Wd9X4sXh31
This is not AI.
— Goldie Ghamari | گلسا قمری (@gghamari) January 10, 2026
This is not Hollywood.
This is the Iranian National Uprising.
After 47 years of Islamic Oppression, the Lion of Iran roars once again. pic.twitter.com/F2exSteZdi
Elon Musk, never one to miss a trend, even updated the emoji library on X to reflect the original Lion and Sun flag of Iran.
BREAKING: IT'S OFFICIAL!
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) January 9, 2026
Iran's flag on X is changing to the REAL Iranian flag.
The LION AND THE SUN! 🦁☀️
It will go live TOMORROW. https://t.co/ECgM7HjPGo pic.twitter.com/SSchD39a0w
There has even been a new viral trend on X of Iranian women lighting up cigarettes by burning a picture of the Ayatollah.
👁️| The brave women of Iran (true feminists) are making it a trend to take photos of themselves lighting a cigarette with a burning picture of the terrorist Ali Khamenei during ongoing protests across the country, including the Iranian capital, Tehran. pic.twitter.com/hkaw019T2z
— militantosh⚡️ (@MilitanTosh) January 9, 2026
How about the video pic.twitter.com/A5L6JO22mq
— Morticia Addams (@melianouss) January 9, 2026
I'm not saying that this viral social media expression is necessarily network news material, but given the fact that no one watches them anymore, they might consider it for the eyeballs it would gain, if nothing else.
But to totally ignore the story? (Or worse, do what Sky News did?) Inexcusable.
The photo gallery that we use for headline images at Twitchy is an Associated Press library (not counting the memes that we often create). The blackout has been so complete that the photo I selected for this story was the ONLY one available from the AP over the past two weeks.
Incredible. And not in a good way. Normally, I would not select an image such as the one I used (I think Twitchy readers will agree that it's pretty sub-par), but I thought it would help hammer home the point that the legacy media flat-out does not want to report on Iran.
This was the scene in Iran tonight as protesters overwhelmed the largest city in the country, except for Tehran.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 9, 2026
The Iranian anti-regime protesters have practically taken over Iran’s 2nd-largest city Mashhad.
The regime’s security forces have retreated to just a few government buildings and don’t move from there. pic.twitter.com/DEiEvr0kYc
Can someone in legacy media please tell me how that is not newsworthy? How it is not lead-story, front-page, above-the-fold newsworthy?
There have been other stories that the media should love, too, like many Iranian police officers throwing down their weapons and joining the protesters. But you won't hear about that from NBC, ABC, CNN, or [trying not to laugh] MS NOW.
It begs the question, 'Why?'
Except that is a rhetorical question because we ALL know why.
There is no question that, after Obama and Biden coddled the mullahs in Iran, lifting sanctions, sending pallets of cash, and ignoring terrorist sponsorship, the Iranian regime falling would be a huge win for President Trump.
Not just huge, but YUGE.
We know this because when Trump bombed Iranian nuclear facilities back into the Stone Age, that was a huge win for him also, one that the media immediately tried to discredit and downplay.
There is also a fairly good possibility that the media doesn't want to report the story because it would be a huge win for Israel as well. I don't discount that, but I think their TDS outweighs their antisemitism (except, perhaps, for Sky News).
If the Iranian people take control of their country after half a century of oppression, that is a win for the Iranian people. Period. They will deserve all of the credit for their unfaltering courage in the face of rulers who hate them and want to keep a boot on their necks. If the American President gets some collateral credit, then so freaking be it.
But the legacy media cannot stomach that. Not even the possibility of that. So, they have tried to hide the story.
This is a disgrace.
It's also completely ineffective. As I have shown above, the media blackout has not stopped the news from reaching millions. All it has done is confirm Elon Musk's declaration on Election Night 2024 that the legacy media is dead, and WE are the media now. Every one of us.
I don't know how this Iranian revolution is going to turn out for them. But I pray that they will finally throw off the shackles of their extremist Islamic dictators.
I DO know how this is going to turn out for the legacy media.
They won't just be dead; they will become extinct.
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