While US, Israel and Iran traded missiles, we fought a parallel war on misinformation
[This article is part of a series on Khaleej Times' 48th anniversary, celebrating a legacy of credible journalism that informs, reassures and connects communities.]
Legacy news media is dead, they said. And then, in a turn of events that beggared belief, the war came home on February 28. Millions of readers have thronged our round-the-clock live blog war coverage in the 48 days since. Here’s what they’ve proven distinctly un-dead: trust in the UAE’s oldest English-language news publisher.
It’s a story that’s been told over and over not just in the last 48 days — but in the last 48 years. From the 2008 recession to the Covid pandemic in 2020, the unprecedented floods in 2024 — and now, the 2026 US-Israel-Iran war. There’s a degree of credibility that a national household name like Khaleej Times has built, brick by brick, over the years. And the times one gets to appreciate that most is in the midst of crisis and chaos.
Because while the explosion of social media and AI into our timelines has forced the rapid evolution of the digital media scene, there’s a trust deficit that cannot be denied. Information is everywhere; accuracy, unfortunately, is not. And even the most reluctant reader knows: the battle for online engagement often means reporting integrity gets sacrificed on the altar of likes and shares. Seeing can no longer be believing.
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From the start of the conflict, international media went to town with screaming headlines that couldn’t be further from the truth. TV anchors played videos on loop of people arriving at airports, sobbing in Oscar-worthy style of how they ‘escaped the war in the Gulf’. Propaganda actors sparked a real verification crisis on social media by generating AI videos depicting everything from the Burj Khalifa on fire to the USS Abraham Lincoln being hit.
There aren’t enough tiny violins in the world to bemoan the way algorithms and AI slop have forever changed the way we consume media. But for us on the Breaking News team at Khaleej Times, what kept us going through countless sleepless nights was the commitment to serving readers who came to us not just from the UAE, but from across the world. And to not getting caught up in the race to ‘be first’ if it meant we can’t also be ‘right’.
One of the most gratifying moments for me in recent days came from a conversation with a Gen Z reader. Much has been said about the generation that avoids news like the plague because of ‘all the negativity’ and who prefer to stay on top of developments through TikTok reels — even though the risk for misinformation is high. “I had to switch to the Khaleej Times live blog after the war started,” she said, “because I know at least what I read there will be true.”
It humbles us to know so many of you have made us your go-to source for the latest updates through this time. As a news organisation, we’ve weathered much over the decades. But like the UAE, and like so many of you who call it home, we hope to do so for many more.
