Riyadh’s burgeoning position in the Arab and Islamic worlds is like a high-stakes chess game, and anyone who’s been following the mainstream media—think CNN or The New York Times—knows they’re pulling emotional strings instead of reporting the facts. These outlets frame normalization with Israel as some grand leap toward peace, but let’s be honest: it’s all about power and influence masquerading as goodwill. The question isn’t whether we should read about this diplomatic waltz; it’s how they inject bias to shape public opinion.

Take Fox News, for example. They’ll certainly highlight the potential for economic benefits from the normalization process, but seldom do they dive into what this means for the average Saudi citizen. Instead, they air rants about Iranian threats and forget to mention that ordinary people might not be on board with this new friendship. To them, it’s just shiny headlines, glossing over real implications. Any time the conversation turns to actual human stories, the corporate media quietly shrinks back.

It’s rich that while they preach about democracy, the media outlets sidestep true discourse for media narratives that serve the establishment. Context is twisted, realities are dulled, and agendas are pushed like crazy. The normalization narrative is the latest buzzword, but underneath lies the unmistakable scent of opportunism. We must demand more from our media. Just because everyone is playing along doesn’t mean we should buy into their short-sighted scripts.