---
title: "Trump administration clashes with media over Iran war coverage"
description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story Multiple Trump administration officials criticized the news media in the past week for their coverage of the ongoing war in Iran. This includes Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who warned he would revoke broadcasters’ licenses if they do […]"
date: "2026-03-19"
authors:
  - name: "sreed"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/trump-administration-clashes-with-media-over-iran-war-coverage/"
---

# Trump administration clashes with media over Iran war coverage

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today*’*s email:**

- **Featured story:** Trump administration clashes with media over Iran war coverage

- **In other news:** States challenge Nexstar-Tegna merger

- **Looking ahead:** Meta seeks to lure popular creators to Facebook

- **Chart of the week:** Partisan gaps in views of news providers’ job functions

🔥 **Featured story**

Multiple Trump administration officials [criticized the news media](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/business/media/trump-iran-media-coverage.html) in the past week for their coverage of the ongoing **war in Iran. **This includes Federal Communications Commission chairman **Brendan Carr, **who warned he would revoke broadcasters’ licenses if they do not “operate in the public interest,” specifically targeting what he called “hoaxes and news distortions.”

A [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/08/20/what-do-americans-want-from-their-news-providers/#what-roles-do-americans-expect-their-news-providers-to-fulfill) from last April asked U.S. adults what responsibilities they think their news providers have. **Reporting the news accurately** was at the top of the list, with 91% saying the people they get news from should probably or definitely do this in their daily work. Large majorities also say their news sources should **correct false or misleading information from public figures **(84%) and **keep an eye on powerful people **(73%).

Additionally, most Americans [have long said](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/12/02/most-americans-continue-to-say-media-scrutiny-keeps-politicians-from-doing-things-they-shouldnt/) that scrutiny from news organizations keeps political leaders from doing things they shouldn’t.

📌 **In other news**

- [Eight states sue](https://www.wsj.com/business/media/states-sue-to-block-6-2-billion-local-broadcasting-tie-up-over-antitrust-concerns-6cd328b4?st=Gt78WP&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) to block **Nexstar-Tegna merger**

- **Federal judge** orders **Trump administration** to reinstate [the 1,000 Voice of America employees cut under Kari Lake](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/17/media/voice-of-america-staff-reinstated-trump); **Newsmax executive **named [new VOA deputy](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/politics/voa-deputy-director-wallace.html)

- **BBC **urges U.S. court to [throw out Trump lawsuit](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/16/bbc-us-court-throw-out-donald-trump-10bn-lawsuit-chilling-effect)

- **Media entrepreneur Robert Allbritton** moves to [expand digital news outlet NOTUS](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/17/notus-hire-washington-post-staff-robert-allbritton) in the wake of **Washington Post layoffs**

- A closer look at [Jeff Bezos’ role](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/business/media/washington-post-jeff-bezos-layoffs.html) in the **Washington Post **turmoil

- The **meteorologists** [leaving broadcast news to become independent streamers](https://www.cjr.org/feature/meteorologists-leaving-broadcast-behind-extreme-indie-weathermen.php) with the **Digital Weather Network**

- **Department of Defense** moves to [“modernize” Stars and Stripes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/13/pentagon-memo-stars-stripes/), the **independent military newspaper**

- An interview with **Emanuel Fabian,** who says he received [death threats from Polymarket gamblers](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/emanuel-fabian-threats-polymarket/686454/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZAY9_c8Sv4UbJoz5hAUuU8YE) over his **reporting on a missile strike in Israel**

📅 **Looking ahead**

[Meta will start offering](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/meta-creator-pay-instagram-tiktok-youtube-facebook.html) creators with large followings on **TikTok, Instagram **and **YouTube** guaranteed monthly payments in exchange for increased posting on **Facebook.**

**Facebook is still one of the most widely used social media sites in the U.S.: **71% of American adults say they ever use it, according to a [2025 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025/). But, [among U.S. teens](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/), it is **less popular than some other sites. **About three-in-ten teens ages 13 to 17 (31%) ever use Facebook, far below the shares who use YouTube (92%), TikTok (68%) and Instagram (63%).

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from a [2025 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/08/20/how-americans-view-journalists-in-the-digital-age/) exploring what Americans see as the key job responsibilities of their news providers. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the people they get news from should definitely correct false or misleading information from public figures (73% vs. 57%) and keep an eye on powerful people (52% vs. 31%) in their daily work, among other functions.

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_01-03.webp)

*👋 That's all for this week. *

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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