The Listening Post

The war on Iran has entered a much more damaging phase with more assassinations of the leadership in Tehran, the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and major strikes on energy infrastructure across the region. As the war has escalated, pressure on news organisations in the United States, Israel and Iran is increasing. Contributors: Branko Marcetic – Writer, Jacobin Arta Moeini – Institute for Peace and Diplomacy Mouin Rabbani – Co-editor, Jadaliyya Mairav Zonszein – Senior Analyst, International Crisis Group On our radar This week, three more senior Iranian political leaders were killed by Israel. Coverage followed a familiar pattern - awe at the Israeli intelligence operation’s "sophistication", and little scrutiny of the legality of the actions. Meenakshi Ravi reports on how these killings have been reported in Israeli and Western media. War in Lebanon: Interview with Jean Kassir Millions of people in Lebanon are enduring the consequences of the Iran war with little media attention. Israel has now begun ground operations there and is openly boasting it will turn the country into a new Gaza. The cofounder and managing editor of Lebanese news website Megaphone spoke to us about the toll this war is having on his country. Featuring: Jean Kassir – Managing Editor, Megaphone

One week into the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, and the messaging coming from the White House is consistently chaotic and contradictory. From regime change and nuclear threat to preemptive attack - the Trump administration is struggling to juggle its narrative. And while the mainstream media is working overtime to legitimise the Trump-Netanyahu war at home, Americans remain unconvinced. Contributors: Negar Mortazavi – Host, The Iran Podcast Samira Mohyeddin – Host, On the Line Media Antony Loewenstein – Author, The Palestine Laboratory Borzou Daragahi – Writer, badlands, Substack On our radar Voices within the Iranian diaspora that support the US-Israeli bombing campaign are being given a disproportionate amount of airtime across Western mainstream media. One of the most prominent figures is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s former shah, who has presented himself as someone who could “lead the transition” to a new government in Tehran. Meenakshi Ravi looks at how the one-sided coverage lends credibility to the war. Reporting under fire in the West Bank With the eyes of the world focused on Gaza and now Iran, far too little attention has been paid to another territory where Israel exercises near-total control: the occupied West Bank. Israel has intensified its policy of fragmenting the territory, carving it up and expanding control over the land. Journalists in the occupied West Bank have seen their movement severely restricted by hundreds of new checkpoints and barriers. And they face the constant threat of soldiers who are more aggressive and settlers who - protected by the army - are more emboldened and violent than ever. One of those journalists is Ameed Shehade, a correspondent for Al Araby TV, whose unflinching reporting frequently places him directly in harm’s way. Featuring: Ameed Shehade – West Bank correspondent, Al Araby TV

As Washington escalates threats of military action against Iran, negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme continue behind the scenes. But while the Trump administration insists that the standoff is about security, Iran’s state media are pushing a very different narrative: that the crisis is a deliberate distraction from the Epstein scandal that continues to implicate the US president. Contributors: Dina Esfandiary – Middle East Lead, Bloomberg Economics Fereshteh Sadeghi – Iranian journalist Jamal Abdi – President, National Iranian American Council Sina Toossi – Senior Fellow, Centre for International Policy On our radar: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Israel this past week in a carefully choreographed display of solidarity. While Modi’s trip was celebrated in the Israeli media, criticism by Indian journalists was blocked back home. Leaving the two leaders to sign arms deals that will boost an already significant military partnership. The Rise of Digital Micro-Bolsonaros Nearly two years after Jair Bolsonaro’s fall from power in Brazil, the movement he built is searching for a new figurehead. A rising generation of young, evangelical, and hyper-online politicians is stepping in. They are leveraging a sophisticated, decades-old religious media machine that evolved from radio and television into a powerful force on social media. Brazil’s political right is being reshaped for the digital age. Featuring: Anna Virginia Balloussier – Journalist, Folha de Sao Paulo Caro Evangelista – Executive Director, ISER Magali Cunha – Editor-in-Chief, Berreia Project

A series of warnings from artificial intelligence (AI) industry insiders shows how the debate around AI drives extreme news cycles, swinging between hype and alarm. The result is media coverage that overlooks the intricacies of this technology and its impact on everyday life. We examine the real risks, what’s being overstated, and what major tech companies stand to gain from all the fearmongering. Contributors: Rumman Chowdhury – Founder, Humane Intelligence Mutale Nkonde – Founder, AI for the People Chris Stokel-Walker – Author of the book How AI Ate the World On our radar Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has found herself in the middle of a political firestorm, all because of comments she never actually made. After a manipulated video of Albanese calling Israel the “enemy of humanity” went viral, there were calls for her resignation across Europe. The UN has labelled these allegations part of a wider smear campaign to discredit Albanese and the UN itself. A curated view of Israel for African journalists For decades, the Israeli government and pro-Israel organisations have sponsored trips for politicians, celebrities and journalists, inviting them to visit and, as they put it, tell the “real story” about Israel. In the past, those invitations largely targeted figures from Western countries. But since October 7th, there has been a noticeable shift towards African journalists and social media influencers. The objective is clear: to shape coverage in African media and influence audiences across the continent. The Listening Post’s Nic Muirhead reports on the African journalists taking part in these fully funded, tightly managed visits to Israel. Featuring: Hassen Lorgat – Media critic and activist Makhudu Sefara – Editor, Sunday Times Timnit Gebru – Founder, the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) Njahira Gitahi – Reporter, The Standard

The latest tranche of the Epstein files contains more than three million documents - the largest release of its kind. In what appears to be a clumsy attempt at a cover-up by the US Department of Justice, the sloppily redacted names of high-profile perpetrators have failed to conceal the intricate web of global elites spanning politics, royalty, Hollywood and tech. The fallout in Europe has resulted in a string of resignations, but in the US, there has been limited accountability for the politicians named in the files, including Donald Trump. Contributors: Mehdi Hasan - Editor-in-chief and CEO, Zeteo News Chris Hedges - Host, The Chris Hedges Report Nikki McCann Ramirez - Politics reporter at Rolling Stone Danielle Moodie - Host, The Danielle Moodie Show On our radar: It’s been a month since Iranian authorities imposed a total internet blackout during a violent crackdown on antigovernment protesters. Since then, the state has ramped up the targeted repression of journalists and progressive politicians in Iran. The limited information that has managed to make it out of the country, via Elon Musk’s Starlink, is now struggling against what experts say are internet filtering technologies from Chinese companies. Tariq Nafi reports on Iran’s nationwide internet shutdown. How the US military took over American football From choreographed flyovers to flags stretching the length of the field, no other sports league has marketed patriotism as aggressively or successfully as the United States’ National Football League, the NFL. Militarism is embedded in sports and entertainment in the US, but, under the Trump administration, more state institutions are trying to get in on the act. Ryan Kohls reports on the power and the spectacle of the Super Bowl. Featuring: Howard Bryant - Sports journalist and author Kavitha Davidson - Podcast host, Sportly Gregory Daddis - Professor of history, Texas A&M University; retired colonel, US Army

The Epstein files dump has led to days of intense media coverage, revealing how powerful elites around the world engaged in either illegal or morally reprehensible behaviour. But even as journalists sift through millions of documents, one of the most significant stories remains largely missing from the mainstream narrative. Contributor: Murtaza Hussain - National security and foreign affairs reporter, Drop Site News The farce of the ‘ceasefire’ coverage in Gaza More than 500 Palestinians have been killed since a US-brokered "ceasefire" was signed, which begs the question: Should journalists, in contextualising the story, really be calling this a “ceasefire”? As Israel signals it’s preparing to resume full-scale war, we examine how media silence, selective framing and restricted access help keep Gaza off the world’s screens. Featuring: Shaiel Ben-Ephraim - Senior analyst, Atlas Global Strategies Diana Buttu - Palestinian lawyer Muhammad Shehada - Visiting fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations Daniel Levy - President, U.S./Middle East Project

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the fatal shooting of a protester by border control agents triggered mass demonstrations and presented the Trump administration with an unexpected test of its immigration strategy. Footage captured by onlookers has undercut official statements and intensified questions about the level of force and use of high-tech tools being used to crack down on dissent. Contributors: Julie Millican – Vice president, Media Matters Qasim Rashid – Human Rights lawyer and founder, Let's Address This Naureen Shah – Director of government affairs, ACLU Prem Thakkar – Reporter, Zeteo News On our radar Just days after ownership of TikTok in the US changed hands, with several of the investors linked to President Trump, users reported widespread censorship of content critical of the administration and its allies. Tariq Nafi reports on the allegations, the tech backlash and the rise of rival platforms. Bangladesh’s election and the media under threat Bangladesh’s first post-Hasina elections are approaching amid deep political turbulence and growing fear within the country. After major newsrooms were attacked and journalists targeted by disinformation-driven violence, the country’s media finds itself on the front line of a volatile transition. Mahfuz Anam, the editor of a large English daily, tells us what that’s like. Featuring: Mahfuz Anam – Editor, Daily Star