OAN Commentary by: Richard Pollock
Friday, January 9, 2026
In journalism, omission is the fine art of censorship. Selecting “news” that mirrors your world view while minimizing “other” important news events is the fine craft of censorship. It lends the veneer of objectivity while shifting attention towards what “editors” find important.
Visualize the Soviet daily Pravda, which in Russian means “truth.”
We seem to be living in the Russian Pravda fairytale storybook world where ideology governs news coverage.
So let’s take the January 9 front page of the New York Times, a paper once heralded as a newspaper that provided “All the News Fit To Print.” It sets the tone for all other news organizations about the important news of the day. The Times once pretended it was the last word on truth of our world.
Today’s Times front page is dominated by an open, free-wheeling two-hour White House interview with Donald Trump by four of its reporters. That’s totally appropriate.
But…rather than herald this unprecedented event of Presidential openness, the Times headline slams Trump, portraying him as an immoral leader. Top Headlines: “Trump Asserts His Global Power Has One Limit: Himself.” Another headline: “Interview Reveals Blunt Views of World’s Laws.”
Elsewhere on the front page is a continuing report of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, and the fact 52 Senators voted to defy Trump’s war powers.
A three-column spread also takes up the lower right third of the the paper announcing the other important international news of the day: “Unrelenting Violence in Push By Israel for Control of West Bank.” Anti-Israel coverage wins the day.
That’s the Times’ capsule summary of the world’s most important events of Friday, January 9.
But it’s the omissions that really tell the story. For today we are seeing unprecedented upheaval of historic proportions. They sometime emerge in our legacy news. But in other times, like in today’s New York Times front page, they just disappear.
What’s missing from the main stories on the Times front page today? We’ll just take a look at three global developments:
Political Upheaval in Iran
– There’s no story on the massive anti-government demonstrations rocking Iran as millions of Iranians are on the streets demanding freedom. To date, 47 demonstrators, including 8 children, have been killed by Iranian government forces, 2,200 protesters had been arrested, and the protests throughout Iran spread to 111 cities in all 31 of Iran’s provinces. Live fire is being used by Iranian authorities against unarmed protesters. The mullahs had imposed a countrywide Internet blackout. For the first time, public support for the Shah’s son echoes through the streets. Iran’s foreign minister went to Lebanon, but in an ominous sign for the regime, he brought his entire family, suggesting he has left the government for good. Trump again gave comfort to the protesters, saying he hailed the Iranian people as “strong” and “brave.”
Venezuela Frees Political Prisoners In Push By Trump
– Venezuela has opened its worst prisons and released many of the most prominent political prisoners in the wake of Trump’s arrest of the country’s dictator Nicholas Maduro. About 50 to 80 prisoners held at the country’s notorious El Helicoid prison were released. About 400 political prisoners were the first to be released, including former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and former Venezuelan lawmaker Biagio Pilieri. President Trump said the prison would be closed. More releases of political prisoners are expected.
France’s Macron Reverses EU Farm Policy As Farmer Tractors Swarm Into Paris
– In Paris farmers bring in thousands of tractors to block the main streets of the city including at the Arch De Triumph, and thousands of farmers reportedly entered the National Assembly. French President Emmanual Macron reversed himself and promised he would vote against a sweeping European Union trade deal that would hurt French farmers. Macron reportedly hid in a bunker for a short time as the farmers descended on Paris.
All three stories are of a world in turmoil representing major political change. As I previously noted, I believe we are witnessing the same political earthquake as the coming down of the Berlin Wall.
Our world is in unprecedented upheaval but you wouldn’t know it by much of the legacy press. Of course, they do report on these stories that inconveniently intrude on their political themes. And sometimes they do appear on the front page. But mainly, you have to dig to find them deep inside these legacy news outlets.
The art of omission. The art of censorship 2026 style.
And regrettably, nearly all of these American news outlets walk in lockstep – without even conferring with each other.
Of course, selective news coverage can bend public opinion. The continued, unrelenting drumbeat does shape our democracy.
Where is it leading us?
You decide.
(Views expressed by guest commentators may not reflect the views of OAN or its affiliates.)
Richard Pollock is a former New Left activist and was a roommate with Chicago 7 defendant Rennie Davis. He understands New Left strategy and tactics. For four decades, Richard was an investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C. Among his positions, he served as the senior investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller News Foundation, and at OAN. While at OAN he served in the Washington, D.C. bureau and hosted its investigative reporting specials. He is semi-retired and his posts from D.C. can be read on Substack.com
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