The Big Story That the Media Deliberately Missed

The media always misses the big stories of historic proportion. Only years later do they reluctantly admit it.

Here are some examples of globally significant stories that the anti-Christian mainstream media deliberately lost in the shuffle. The stories have to do with events in Egypt during the last few years—events that I am very familiar with.

It is impossible to ascertain whether they refuse to report these stories because of their anti-Christian bias, or because the stories run contrary to the narrative propagated by the current White House. Either way, the omissions are no accident.

The Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 was fully covered—every media outlet had reporters on the ground in Tahrir Square. It was a story that executive producers in New York and London could embrace with gusto: masses of people demonstrating against a secular dictator.

The White House believed that Mubarak should be replaced by an Islamist, and the media fell right in line. The State Department had long felt that an Islamist government was inevitable, so they might as well support it now by supporting the uprising. Even the European Union, to pacify its burgeoning Islamist population, got on the bandwagon.

But we all know the results now:

• The Obama administration got its wish and Mubarak resigned.
• An Islamist, Mohammed Morsi, ran for president, even though he was in prison at the time of the revolution and illegally broke out.
• Through a series of campaign lies, Morsi was elected, despite only receiving 11 million votes out of a population of 90 million.
• The Muslim Brotherhood members who advised President Obama propagated a message of “democracy in our time” to the Western media.
• The media ran with the story: “The First Democratically Elected President in Egyptian History.” That sounded good to the uninformed. 

Then soon after Morsi get into office, he declared himself a dictator and above the law. Did we hear even the softest grumble of opposition from the White House or other Western capitals? No, not a word.

Within 12 months of Morsi’s reign, Egypt was brought to its knees economically, socially and politically. A result far more disastrous than anything its secular predecessor could have possibly accomplished.

But the media covered up that disaster. Why? It didn’t fit the narrative. The White House and its aligned media executives believed Islamists would be good for Egypt and good for the Middle East.

Then came June 30, when more than 30 million people, from all walks of life and religious persuasions, angrily demanded new elections. But dictators, especially Islamist dictators (as we have seen with Hamas), detest re-elections.

Thus when the army acted as steward of stability and stood by the protesters (the size of the mass protests were unprecedented in human history), the White House condemned the army’s action as a military coup. In order to punish Egypt, Obama took the law into his own hands and cut aid to Egypt—aid that was agreed to back at the 1978 Camp David Accords.

But there’s even another big story that the media missed.

During the 12 months of the Islamist dictatorship, the Christian minority, which numbers between 10 and 17 million, were openly persecuted. Throughout the Islamist reign, they went to their churches in enormous numbers, packing them for prayer meetings. Some of those prayer meetings witnessed thousands upon thousands of people praying 24/7—crying out to God to hear their pleas.

Even many non-Christians believe that the demise of the Muslim Brotherhood government came as a direct answer to the prayers of those believers. But try explaining that to the BBC, NBC, ABC, CBS or CNN.

Of course, the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood punished the Christians by burning many of their churches, homes and businesses. Yet the Christians saw that as a small price to pay for a better future for their country.

But here’s the biggest story that the media kept locked away:

During the recent Christmas and New Year celebrations in Egypt, the interim president, Adly Mansour, went to the Coptic Cathedral. There, he met and embraced the patriarch and expressed the good wishes of all Egyptians for Christmas and the New Year.

That had never happened before in the past 1,400 years of majority-Islamic rule.

That meeting was of great significance, not only for Egypt or the region, but for all Muslims who are truly moderates. It was a gesture that can help to ultimately fulfill the dreams of all peace-loving people.

But the media deliberately ignored that possible world-impacting and future-altering event.

Will those who control most of the dissemination of news in the West ever turn back to the honest and transparent reporting of such history-making events? Unfortunately, I doubt it.  

Michael Youssef, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. Youssef was born in Egypt.