Trump Demands Patriotic Coverage of the War in Iran. Or Else….

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Mar 20, 2026

Guest

Erik Slavin

Erik Slavin, Editor-in-Chief of Stars and Stripes, defends independent military reporting. Minnah Arshad, journalist, analyzes early New York Times coverage and casualty representation. Mahsa Alimardani, researcher on AI disinformation, maps how fake images and verification battles are shaping the Iran conflict. They discuss media framing, casualty undercounting, and AI-fueled visual misinformation.

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INSIGHT

Administration Pushes For Patriotic War Framing

Pete Hegseth and President Trump demanded a more “patriotic” framing of Iran coverage, reframing headlines to portray Iranian desperation rather than U.S. setbacks.
Hegseth suggested alternate banners like "Iran increasingly desperate," and Trump amplified pressure by attacking outlets and threatening consequences for perceived unpatriotic reporting.

INSIGHT

Times Undercovered Iranian Victims Early In War

Minnah Arshad's analysis found the New York Times underreported Iranian victims: 18 articles mentioned Iranian victims vs. 29 for victims of Iranian attacks in the first four days.
Arshad noted Iranians make up 97% of casualties so early disparity reveals framing bias and prioritization of hawkish voices.

ANECDOTE

Fake AI Image Preceded Real School Massacre

An independent Iranian labor union posted an AI image of military equipment in an Esfahan school; fact-checkers later debunked it.
The next day a real U.S. strike hit an elementary school in Minab killing ~170, and the fake image muddied public response.

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President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are demanding “more patriotic” coverage of the widening war in Iran. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the Pentagon is cracking down on its publication, Stars and Stripes. Plus, fake AI images of the Iran war are proliferating, and they're getting more convincing.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger breaks down the calls from the Trump administration for the media to produce “patriotic” coverage of the war in Iran. Plus, a closer look at the reporting by legacy outlets with journalist Minnah Arshad. Arshad analyzed The New York Times’ early coverage of the war, and found that Iranian victims were underrepresented. Next, Micah sits down with scholar Mahsa Alimardani to discuss fake AI images of the Iran conflict, and how AI detection tools are being used to discredit authentic footage.

[22:30] Micah speaks with Samantha Gross, the director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, to dissect the developing energy crisis being caused by the disruption of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.

[37:54] Host Brooke Gladstone talks to Erik Slavin, Editor-in-Chief of Stars and Stripes, the independent, award-winning newspaper that has served the military for roughly a century, about the Pentagon’s plan to crack down on their reporting and refocus their content away from “woke distractions.”