{"id":2575138,"date":"2026-03-02T09:45:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:49:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:49:51","slug":"you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT, WaPo Remember Ayatollah As &#8216;Cleric&#8217; With &#8216;Easy Smile&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyou-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2575138&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Federalist opinion piece argues that major media outlets sanitized Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s brutal rule in their obituaries following his death,portraying him in a more benign light. The article cites Washington Post columnist william Branigin\u2019s obituary and New york Times pieces by Alan Cowell and Farnaz fassihi, claiming they present Khamenei as iran\u2019s \u201csupreme leader\u201d with a human, avuncular side\u2014highlighting his modest upbringing, love of poetry, and humility\u2014while downplaying his long record of executions, censorship, and sponsorship of terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>The piece contends these obituaries emphasize personal restraint and a quiet life, suggesting he avoided open conflict with the U.S. and Israel and describing his home as modest, with little focus on the regime\u2019s repression.It also notes Reuters found no evidence that Khamenei used wealth for personal enrichment, yet the broader portrayal still omits the regime\u2019s harsh violations. The Federalist argues this reflects a broader pattern of legacy-media framing that humanizes authoritarian figures while minimizing their abuses.<\/p>\n<p>Written by Brianna Lyman, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/forbes-publishes-list-of-elite-athletes-who-wont-say-whether-theyve-had-a-covid-vaccine\/\" title=\"Forbes Publishes List of Elite Athletes Who Won&#039;t Say Whether They&#039;ve Had a COVID Vaccine\">article labels<\/a> the coverage as propaganda-tinged and invites readers to scrutinize how <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >powerful outlets shape narratives<\/a> around authoritarian leaders.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ayatollah_Ali_Khamenei_at_the_Great_Conference_of_Basij_members_at_Azadi_stadium_October_2018_019.jpg\"><\/a>&#8220;&gt;Khamenei.ir\/ Wikimedia Commons \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC By 4.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/02\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=You%20Don%E2%80%99t%20Hate%20Media%20Enough:%20NYT,%20WaPo%20Remember%20Ayatollah%20As%20%E2%80%98Cleric%E2%80%99%20With%20%E2%80%98Easy%20Smile%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/02\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=You%20Don%E2%80%99t%20Hate%20Media%20Enough:%20NYT,%20WaPo%20Remember%20Ayatollah%20As%20%E2%80%98Cleric%E2%80%99%20With%20%E2%80%98Easy%20Smile%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/02\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/02\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=You%20Don%E2%80%99t%20Hate%20Media%20Enough:%20NYT,%20WaPo%20Remember%20Ayatollah%20As%20%E2%80%98Cleric%E2%80%99%20With%20%E2%80%98Easy%20Smile%E2%80%99&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/02\/you-dont-hate-media-enough-nyt-wapo-remember-ayatollah-as-cleric-with-easy-smile\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>If you thought The Washington Post&rsquo;s infamous decision to describe ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an  &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/austere-religious-scholar-redux-see-how-irans-murderous-khamenei-was-eulogized-by-wapo-nyt\/\" title=\"&#039;Austere Religious Scholar&#039; Redux: See How Iran&#039;s Murderous ... was Eulogized by WaPo, NYT\">austere religious scholar&#038;rdquo<\/a>; was a once in a lifetime lapse in editorial judgement, you were mistaken. With the death of Iran&rsquo;s brutal dictatorial supreme leader, both The New York Times and The Post are back to remind you that legacy media still has no shame. <\/p>\n<p>Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran&rsquo;s longtime supreme leader responsible for executions, censorship, repression, and sponsoring terrorist groups worldwide, was killed in an airstrike on Saturday. His death comes weeks after his regime oversaw the execution of tens of thousands of Iranians who took to the streets to protest his very rule.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1888710146\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But rather than recount the misery and destruction of his reign, the propaganda press has set out to humanize him. In a Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/obituaries\/2026\/02\/28\/ayatollah-khamenei-dead-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obituary<\/a> by William Branigin, readers are introduced to the Ayatollah not as the brutal dictator he was, but simply as &ldquo;Iran&rsquo;s supreme leader,&rdquo; who &ldquo;is dead at 86.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He played a behind the-scenes role in Iran&rsquo;s Islamic revolution, served as president in the 1980&rsquo;s and dominated the country for more than three decades,&rdquo; the subhead reads &mdash; an interesting way to describe the leader of one of the most repressive regimes in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Branigin then paints a glowing picture of Khamenei.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo&rsquo;s &lsquo;Les Miserables.&rsquo; But like the uncompromising Khomeini, he opposed moderates&rsquo; efforts to promote political and social reforms domestically and to secure rapprochement with the United States.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei&rsquo;s literary preferences are noted, but his long history of executions, censorship, and sponsorship of terrorism are not highlighted to such a glowy degree. <\/p>\n<p>Branigin also wants readers to know the ayatollah &ldquo;&lsquo;had a difficult life&#8217;&rdquo; and sometimes had only &ldquo;little to eat&rdquo; like &ldquo;bread and raisins.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When describing his elevation to supreme leader, Branigin highlights Khamenei&rsquo;s humility. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In his first speech in the post, he struck a self-deprecatory tone, calling himself a man &lsquo;with many faults and shortcomings and truly a minor seminarian.&rsquo; He said later in his biography that he accepted the position reluctantly.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The picture painted by Branigin is clear: Khamenei&rsquo;s life is defined by his personal restraint, cultural interests, and modesty, not the terror campaign he oversaw for decades. <\/p>\n<p>The New York Times&rsquo; Alan Cowell and Farnaz Fassihi similarly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/28\/world\/middleeast\/ayatollah-ali-khamenei-dead.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>: &ldquo;Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hard-Line Cleric Who Made Iran a Regional Power, Is Dead at 86.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, The Times <em>could have<\/em> swapped &ldquo;Hard-Line Cleric&rdquo; for brutal dictator, terrorist, world&rsquo;s leading state sponsor of terrorism &mdash; the list can go on.<\/p>\n<p>While Cowell and Fassihi noted that Khamenei &ldquo;brutally crushed dissent at home,&rdquo; the article goes on to say that he &ldquo;for the most part&rdquo; &ldquo;avoided open military confrontation with&rdquo; the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Like The Post, the Times is deeply invested in getting the word out that Khamenei had a modest upbringing and, in later life, &ldquo;appeared to live modestly in a home-office complex where he met with heads of state in a sparsely furnished room with a beige carpet, a sofa and a few wooden chairs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And despite reports of access to wealth, &ldquo;Reuters found no evidence that the ayatollah used it to enrich himself.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Ayatollah Khamenei&rsquo;s obstinacy sometimes hurt Iranians,&rdquo; The Times wrote, citing the ayatollah&rsquo;s refusal to allow the importation of COVID vaccines which led to more than 100,000 deaths. <\/p>\n<p>That <em>that<\/em> is the harm singled out rather than the executions, the torture, or the January hangings, is telling.<\/p>\n<p>But, &ldquo;After more than 35 years in power, Ayatollah Khamenei had shaped the Islamic Republic in his own image,&rdquo; the obituary concludes, as if it&rsquo;s an achievement rather than a somber reflection of the destruction he caused to his own people. <\/p>\n<p>You don&rsquo;t have to hate the media to notice the absurdity of these obituaries, but if you didn&rsquo;t hate them before, you probably do now. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ayatollah-khamenei\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ayatollah Khamenei<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/iran\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-times\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">New York Times<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/propaganda-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">propaganda press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/terrorism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">terrorism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/washington-post\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Washington Post<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase (\u226455 chars):<br \/>\nMedia glam Khamenei after death, ignoring tyranny.<\/p>\n<p>Want a longer paraphrase or a neutral summary of the piece? I can provide a few sentence version or a detailed recap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2575139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ayatollah_Ali_Khamenei_at_the_Great_Conference_of_Basij_members_at_Azadi_stadium_October_2018_019-e1772461682523.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[6091,58160,3823],"class_list":["post-2575138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-ayatollah","tag-cleric-2","tag-iran"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ayatollah_Ali_Khamenei_at_the_Great_Conference_of_Basij_members_at_Azadi_stadium_October_2018_019-e1772461682523.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2575138"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575142,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575138\/revisions\/2575142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2575138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2575138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2575138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}