To wonder why the mainstream media is not reporting the massive anti-regime protests in Iran?

[supernaturalmilkshake]

There are currently massive anti-Islamic regime protests all over Iran by civilians, many of them chanting for the return of the Shah.

These protestors are incredibly brave, many of them have been killed, shot or taken away by the regime police.

The protests, some of them hundreds of thousands strong, all over Iran have been widely reported and documented by exiled Iranians on places like Twitter/X but the mainstream news has been strangely silent, especially the BBC that would normally have non-stop, headline reporting if this was about happening anywhere else.

AIBU to hope the regime falls and that the Iranians finally taste freedom after 47 years (and that the BBC should be reporting on this)?

Now ask why they are so hellbent on letting the pub industry die....

...its where people talk.

LOL
the wokies here will be outraged
But you are correct

There are a great many things wrong with X, but it's true that it's been much better than other, less Nazi infested platforms at providing information about the Iranian protests. I also have a Bluesky account and there was very little on there last week, when things were getting started.

What idiots they are. Not far behind the Iranian regime with that one. We might talk about that.

Which didn't stop there being substantial coverage on Gaza, including substantial publicity given to Hamas claims and statements, so it can't be about that.

I’ve certainly seen/heard it reported on either BBC TV or R4.

As for wanting the return of the Shah, I still remember while living in Cyprus in the early 70s, an Iranian girl, who was married to a Cypriot friend, telling me about the Shah era secret police, and how people were always aware that they could be anywhere nearby, listening, so speaking freely in e.g. a cafe (we were in one at the time) was impossible. TBH it sounded like the former East German Stasi.

Was on the main BBC news last night- Not sure what you were watching?

That Shah is long dead now. It's his son Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi who some of the protesters want back, and I think they have in mind a more constitutional monarchy. Not sure they're a majority though.

I think the Shah is a political figurehead, even he himself has said he wants to lead a transition to democracy. I don’t think they want an autocracy. I think he’s thinking something like our royal family.

@Binus yes but the BBC was in contact with local journalists on the ground in Gaza. The regime there also actively wanted news to get out to the world, the Iranian regime not so much.

I am not sure what poibt you are trying to make here TBH

That Western journalists not being allowed to report from an area clearly is no barrier whatsoever to the BBC and general mainstream legacy media covering it. It's not, we know that. No way round it.

In terms of the new points you've added, in fact both regimes very much want to send a particular message to the world. The Iranian government the same as Hamas in that respect. For example, here's an article that the Guardian shamefully saw fit to publish last week, from a member of the Iranian government.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/30/iran-donald-trump-real-talks-both-win

The distinction between the two is that the journalists the BBC and legacy media were platforming from Gaza were broadly in agreement with the regime, what with Hamas tending to dispatch anyone who says anything inconvenient. Whereas that's not the case in Iran.

I think theres a lot to be said for having reporters who are obsessives about their subject matter. I worry a lot of journalists aren’t that clever or curious but just the type of people who managed to get an internship at the right place through some godawful grad scheme. Theres definitely an element of “right think” in a lot of our institutions so you don’t get much diversity of opinion. I guess thats why GB news is increasingly popular with people. I don’t really watch TV anymore, the quality of reporting is just not great, important things are neglected, phrasing is used in a way which distorts information.

The Israel Gaza war is interesting. Very little about what Hamas and Hezbollah are, who’s funding them (iran) why they receive funding, how that ties in regionally with other groups, where do the weapons and money come from. if this stuff had been covered in the last 2 years the general public would have better idea of why American interference in Venzuela is important globally. Instead we had a lot of coverage about why Trump is a giant dickhead (which we know already and natter about a rules based order which never actually existed). There is so little about outfits like the muslim brotherhood and thats extremely important for the UK itself.

A lot of feeling, very little factual information which would have been more useful for people trying to understand whats going on rather than who’s right or wrong.

Ted Tugendhat MP did an extremely brief and useful rundown for Marr, he would make an excellent reporter on the middle east. None of what he said is a secret btw, it’s all publicly available information which any reporter could have found by googling for 10 minutes.

There are diaspora Iranian analysts connected to people in Iran itself who could be asked about this. There is immense amounts of footage coming out of Iran. There is loads of information about what Iran has been doing and what the consequences of a regime collapse would be on the global stage. Theres SHITONS to report on.

It hasn't been first and foremost on TV News (e.g At lunchtime when I usually watch).

What media are you watching? It’s been the covered for a few days now.

You can’t be watching much then it’s been covered on both.

I saw this on the news last night and read about it in the paper this morning. Wtf are you on about?

But the revolution has been ongoing for a week at least and not covered by MSM until yesterday in the main. There was a demo outside the Iranian Embassy in London last Saturday which wasn't covered by news outlets. HTH.

Erm…. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clyzjn0w9l2t

The situation has been going on longer as pp says

At last the BBC is catching up...

Sure but her point was it isn't being coveted, and it obviously is.

It wasn't being covered when my cousin (a journalist who reports extensively on the ME) began writing about it a week ago as well as attending last Saturday's demo outside the Iranian Embassy. There's been little to no British MSM coverage until yesterday and it's still not headline news.

They’re picking it up now, luckily there’s a groundswell of coverage led by people which was being talked about before that.

You replied to the wrong post!