A clear example of damaging bias in journalism
By Easton Martin | December 27, 2025
A recent Guardian report on President Trump’s remarks regarding violence in Nigeria offers a revealing example of how ideological bias undermines responsible journalism. The article recounts Trump’s statements, describes the situation on the ground, and then attempts to counter those claims by deferring to statements from the Nigerian government. It concludes by treating those official denials as though they are authoritative on whether mass killings and religious or ethnic violence amount to genocide.
That framing is no small misstep. Governments accused of allowing or enabling widespread violence are rarely reliable judges of their own conduct. Nigeria’s government has faced sustained criticism for its failure to confront extremist groups such as Boko Haram and for minimizing the scale of violence in order to reduce international pressure. Human rights organizations, regional observers, and affected communities have repeatedly argued that state inaction has played a role in continued civilian deaths.
Despite this record, the Guardian presents Nigerian government statements as a corrective rather than as claims requiring skepticism.
If comparable violence were unfolding in the United States under the Trump administration, no major left-leaning outlet would accept official denials at face value. They would treat those statements as self-interested and subject them to intense scrutiny. The inconsistency here is difficult to ignore.
