Western media appears to have taken a hard hit with the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was in charge of the terrorist organization known as the Quds Force. Story after story and tweet after tweet from media outlets used flowery language to describe the man who is responsible for the deaths of more than 600 American service members' and thousands of civilians.
In their attempt to report on how Soleimani has many supporters in Iran, news sites lead off by spewing Iranian propaganda. It is one thing to have the quotes in the story, but it is another to use the quotes to highlight the story on social media to get people to read it.
TIME magazine even decided to use Soleimani's death to promote its new project that is designed for kids.
If you need help talking with the children in your life about the aftermath of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani's killing, @timeforkids has a guide to explaining the topic https://t.co/wCOV3m5a2B
— TIME (@TIME) January 7, 2020
“Knowing General Suleimani was out there made me feel safer,” said a student about the commander killed in an American drone strike. “He was like a security umbrella above our country.” Listen today's episode of The Daily. https://t.co/U3YUEnxqtX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 7, 2020
Americans painted him as a hard-liner. But for Iranians, Suleimani was an apolitical patriot.https://t.co/6YKrAlsRGG
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) January 7, 2020
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wept openly at the funeral for Gen. Qassem Soleimani. His tears give insight into how the death of the commander killed in a U.S. strike is being felt personally by the supreme leader. https://t.co/JuUCNNtyxQ
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 6, 2020
Watch live coverage as Gen. Qassem Soleimani is buried in his hometown of Kerman, Iran. https://t.co/CUsh8osifL
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 8, 2020
Of course, MSNBC did push the false Iranian propaganda claim that 30 American troops were killed in the missile attack on Tuesday. Host Chris Hayes, whose show the claim was repeated on, tried to defend the decision to repeat an unverified claim because at least they stressed it was unverified. Quite the stunning and brave journalism!
Somehow you managed to cut out the part where I emphasized that that was Iranian state media and not verified. What a weird coincidence. https://t.co/qmjxlgsIJg pic.twitter.com/9GkJtDa56R
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 8, 2020
The reason why people are so upset with the media is because the media have shown they are incapable of being critical in their coverage of someone who has died, no matter their history of wrongdoing. Just compare how The New York Times' obituaries section described Soleimani, who was in charge of a terrorist organization, to an American football coach.
Qassim Suleimani, Master of Iran’s Intrigue and Force, Dies at 62 https://t.co/POoNRnRz26
— NYT Obituaries (@NYTObits) January 7, 2020
Sam Wyche, who was the last coach to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl, but who was later fined by the National Football League for barring a female reporter from the team’s locker room, has died https://t.co/A2cnDDYbQu
— NYT Obituaries (@NYTObits) January 7, 2020
It seems the media wants to make up for the mourners in Iran who were forced to go and show support for the regime, especially since the Iranian government killed over 1,500 protesters in November. And you guessed it, Soleimani's forces took part in the crackdown that also resulted in almost 7,000 arrests.
