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The most insidious kind of media bias is the bias of omission. This happens every day in today’s version of the alleged free and fair press, mostly to protect the party they exist to serve: the Democratic Party.
With that said, here are the five most egregious examples of intentionally ignoring or dismissing a story from what was a wild 2025.
5. The slaughter of Nigerian Christians
Talk about underreported: According to Intersociety.org, a Nigerian-based, nonprofit human rights organization, as many as 100,000 Christians have been murdered in Nigeria since 2009. In 2025 alone, more than 7,000 Christians were slaughtered, which is an average of approximately 35 deaths per day.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about this, you’re not alone. A cursory look at the New York Times archives reveals some coverage, but mostly it is about criticizing President Donald Trump, who has hinted at possible U.S. military intervention if the killings don’t stop.
Here are the top three headlines that come up when searching “Nigeria Christian” on the New York Times’s website:
Nov 9: “Trump Aid Cuts Kill More Christians Than Jihadists Do”
Nov 21: “Trump Says Violence Against Christians in Nigeria Is ‘Genocide.’ It’s Not So Simple”
Nov. 5: “Nigeria, in Trump’s Cross Hairs, Rejects Christian Genocide Claims”
Are we seeing a pattern here? You bet. Because Trump is now speaking about it, the reflex is to criticize any and every claim and decision he is making.
On the broadcast side, the only mention found on CNN is Fareed Zakaria’s mocking Trump speaking about Christian genocide in Nigeria, with the CNN anchor calling it “an emotional outburst” on Nov. 3. On MS Now, the only recent mention was on Nov. 17 when Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) argued “there’s no concrete evidence” to justify Trump’s possible military action in the country. To its credit, Fox News did five different segments on the violence in Nigeria in November alone.
4. The rapid decline of gas prices
After Trump signed several executive orders stopping domestic energy initiatives from being embarked upon during his first term, the cost of a gallon of gas rose to $3.33 on average in January 2022, with some states such as California seeing an average of over $6 per gallon. However, in the first 11 months of Trump’s second term, a gallon of gas has dropped to $2.90, the lowest in five years, with some states even reaching under $2 per gallon.
Yet when searching “gas price Trump” in the Washington Post, here’s the first story that comes up.
Dec. 10: “Trump struggles to persuade Americans to ignore affordability issues”
July 27: “Trump’s imaginary numbers, from $1.99 gas to 1,500% price cuts”
Oct. 24: “Trump says gas should be $1.87 a gallon. Here’s what that would mean. Experts say that the former president’s campaign promise of cheap gasoline could have severe economic consequences.”
You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
3. Iran’s nuclear capability was not decimated by US strikes
Following the perfectly executed U.S. mission to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, the reporting wasn’t one of praise or even accuracy, but an attempt to dismiss the strikes as pinpricks that did little damage.
CNN, one day after the strikes in what it deemed an exclusive: “The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment.”
The report, of course, was based on anonymous sources. In the weeks that followed, however, Israel’s intelligence resources, which are far more entrenched in Iran, said the primary nuclear site at Fordow was decimated. The CIA also confirmed Iran’s nuclear program was “severely damaged.” And Iranian officials also said the nuclear installations were “badly damaged.”
The old saying goes: A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on is apropos here. Because the reporting was breathless in almost celebrating the strikes not being effective in the following days, likely because the media’s two biggest targets, Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, were involved, but the reports later showing that the mission was successful were largely muted.
2. Eleven months later, almost no homes have been rebuilt that were destroyed in the California wildfires
More than 13,000 fires were destroyed in the California wildfires in January. And more than 11 months later, the very first home to be rebuilt was finally completed on Nov. 30. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the completion of the home, which remains unoccupied because it is owned by the building company, “a major milestone” and “an important moment of hope.”
Wildfire survivors called Bass’s celebration tone-deaf, with the blowback so swift that Bass deleted the tweet hailing the home’s completion.
Of all the unfavorable aspects of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) record, his handling of the wildfires and the rebuilding effort is at or near the top. Throw in the fact that California owns the following dubious distinctions: The highest taxes, poverty rate, homeless rate, unemployment rate, housing costs, and cost of living in the country; he entered office with a $78 billion surplus but now faces a $35 billion deficit; and he wanted to build high-speed rail from L.A. to San Francisco, wasted $17 billion in taxpayer money, and ultimately shut down the project.
But thanks to the bias of omission, these pesky little facts are almost never broached during interviews with the 2028 presidential hopeful. In one recent interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, the word “Trump,” according to the official transcript, is said 13 times, while the word “fire” was broached two times, and not in the way it should have been in terms of the snail’s pace in rebuilding those 13,000 homes. Instead, here’s what we got from Bash, who isn’t a journalist but a Democratic cheerleader:
“You’ve seen a lot of disasters just even in this year, some unprecedented, tropical storms, the first one in your state of California in decades, wildfires in Hawaii. Should President Biden declare a climate emergency?”
Oh, good grief. The wildfire in Hawaii was due to an electrical problem. How could Bash not ask about the rebuilding effort, or lack thereof, unless she purposely avoided what would have been an uncomfortable topic, even for a shapeshifter such as Newsom.
1. The southern border goes quiet
This is not only the political story of the year, but perhaps of the decade, following Trump defying all odds and winning back the White House. And what makes what has happened at the southern border truly amazing is the fact that no law or bill needed to be passed to achieve what is now an essentially closed border.
In December 2023, under the Biden-Harris administration, there were more than 300,000 encounters of illegal immigrants by border officials in that month alone. This month, under the Trump-Vance administration, that number dropped by 92%, a record low. And not one illegal immigrant was released into the United States.
“Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the seventh straight month of zero releases,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than ever before.”
WELCOME TO THE GLOBAL INTIFADA
Of course, it was not until Dec. 7, with Biden long out of office, that the New York Times conducted a deep dive into how he allowed the border crisis to escalate.
“His advisers warned that there would be ‘chaos’ at the border unless he took a range of actions,” reporter Peter Baker wrote on X, previewing the story. “But Biden and his top aides did not act on recommendations. A deep look at how Biden failed to head off the immigration crisis that beset his presidency.”
Gee, thanks, guys. This kind of reporting may have been helpful when Biden was, you know, in office.
George Orwell once said that “omission is the most powerful form of lie.” With trust in media at an all-time low, perhaps the fourth estate should heed this warning if it wants to save itself from itself.
