Media Bias Alert: Different Truths Emerge on Iran School Bombing

Updated March 6. On Feb. 28, the Iranian regime-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran was struck with missiles that killed 165 people – mostly schoolchildren – and left 95 injured.

Several US news sources published investigations and satellite imagery suggesting that a school was struck. The outlet and Iranian officials have blamed the US and Israel. But due to mistrust of the regime in power, there are questions about the validity of reports, who conducted the strike, and whether or not it was intentional.

And amid the uncertainty, biased news sources have rushed to conclusions and, in some cases, spread misinformation.

Who Launched the Strike?

The Wall Street Journal (Center) quoted an anonymous US official who said "U.S. military investigators think American forces likely were responsible." The person added that the "investigation hasn’t reached a final conclusion."

The New Republic (Left bias) suggested President Donald Trump ordered “a deadly military strike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran,” which it said was the deadliest attack of “the US and Israel’s blatantly illegal bombing campaign.” Qatar-funded Al Jazeera (Lean Left) also labelled it as a “US-Israel strike.”

The strike was a major story on the left. On the right, there was almost no coverage. When there was, it was worded to avoid implying US involvement.

Fox News (Right) briefly mentioned “Iranian state reports that a school had been hit in the strike.” Similarly, a headline from Washington Times (Lean Right) said, “Iranian state media says the death toll from a strike on a girls' school has climbed to 165.”

The Blaze (Right) also mentioned the strike but said it “does not appear to be intentional,” and noted that it occurred “adjacent to a naval base of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps” and “was once connected to the naval base and was only disconnected from it in 2016.”

The Daily Wire (Right) placed the report in an even more skeptical light: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing scrutiny after sharply criticizing the U.S. operation in Iran, asserting that American or Israeli strikes ‘killed children, young girls at a school,’ a claim for which there is currently no independent verification.”

Was It Intentional?

State Secretary Marco Rubio said that though he was unaware of who ordered the strike, it was clear that the US “would not deliberately target a school.”

Reuters (Center) quoted Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon who said that he heard reports that the IRGC targeted the school. 

Townhall (Right) similarly reported that the IRGC was unintentionally responsible, writing that Iran’s “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps allegedly fired a missile that failed and hit its own nearby school that's next to a military base, according to reports on social media.”

Al Jazeera, conversely, reported that the strike on the girls’ school was "likely ‘deliberate,’” highlighting details about the school that may have contributed to motivation to strike it. Al Jazeera noted that the school “is part of a broad network of schools structurally and administratively affiliated with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Navy.” 

The outlet also wrote that missiles struck the school and the military base nearby, but did not touch a specialized health clinic located in between the two. Al Jazeera wrote, “This exclusion cannot be explained as a coincidence; it strongly indicates that the executing party was operating with coordinates and maps that distinguished between the complex’s different facilities.”

'Human Shield' Accusations Against Iran

The outlet Iran International (unrated) reported on rising concerns that the IRGC is using civilian sites during wartime as a sort of human shield against attackers. 

An Iranian teachers’ union published images of alleged military equipment being stored inside a school, warning that classrooms were being turned into “shields for deadly equipment.” The outlet also reported on Iranian officials allegedly holding government meetings inside a hospital. 

Navigating Media Bias and Different Truths

It remains unclear who struck the school, and some still question the death toll. There are also conflicting reports about the nature of the school itself: NBC News (Lean Left) quoted a mother who "dropped her son off" at the school, but in Iran, schools aren't coeducational, and virtually all other sources are reporting that it was a girls' school. That uncertainty makes audiences more vulnerable to misinformation.

Biased media on the left and right jumped to advance their own preferred “truths,” either accepting the Iranian government’s blame of the US, or instead suggesting that an errant Iranian missile could have hit the school. 

When information is unclear, reading sources from across the political spectrum can help uncover a bigger picture of sensitive situations. Understanding what information is out there, how different groups understand it, and potential consequences of different interpretations empowers conversation and better understanding of our world.

Emily Allen is a News Editor and Bias Analyst at AllSides. She has a Left bias.

Henry A. Brechter is the editor-in-chief of AllSides. He has a Center bias.

Reviewed and edited by News Editor and Bias Analyst Malayna J. Bizier (Right bias)