The Spanish Civil War comes to mind.
You will note that survival required treating the press as the combatants they are.
I don’t think that counts since the victors were native to Spain.
I don’t think the Spanish Civil War is the same thing as an empire fighting off an insurgency. Both sides of the Spanish Civil War were mainly Spaniards, and they were both fighting in their home country. This is what makes it so difficult for an empire to deal with local insurgencies. The insurgents have a “home field advantage” in so many respects — including local knowledge of the geography as well as local knowledge of the people.
Actually the Republicans were the duly elected government. The victorious nationalists were the insurgents.
Great example.