He is the only “Independent” and has the most questionable of all economic policies being discussed in presidential primary circles. The frazzled and frumpy, socialism-loving, perpetually angry Vermonter, Sen. Bernie Sanders, is on another epic tear through the Swamp. It’s not Godzilla versus Tokyo – or even The Blob, which Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) has parodied to a fault. Bernie’s enemy: the drive-by media, which he believes have plunged his candidacy into the murky shadows.
Bernie Sanders
And as God is my witness, I believe he is absolutely correct. He’s not getting any good press. It’s almost as if the media have already decided on their candidate. So now the Sanders campaign is breathing life into the nearly defunct, often-decried 2016 conspiracy theory: the Bernie Blackout.
A study by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center gave life to said conspiracy when it found Bernie’s media coverage was “three times less” than that of Hillary.
Are they so brazen as to try to topple the No. 2 in line for a July 2020 Democratic nod?
Corporate Media
Now Sanders rails against the media for creating a negative loop of information – something President Donald Trump knows more about than anyone in politics these days. As Sanders rises in early state polling, his coverage dips. When his campaign does incredibly stupid things – such as hiring a state director with a history of anti-Semitic and anti-women tweet-fests, his coverage goes up.
Sanders trails frontrunner Joe Biden by just a smidgen, as revealed by the latest Monmouth Poll. According to the global media intelligence company, Meltwater, he is racking up the news coverage. But it doesn’t reflect positive reinforcement. This is how his campaign adviser Jeff Weaver sees the analysis:
“Now we are in the phase of what I call the Bernie write-off. The undiscriminating coverage of polls that fit existing narratives is certainly an issue that all of us need to be aware of. Headline after headline declaring that the Sanders campaign is over.”
Of course, corporate-owned media are collectively apoplectic, pitching attacks toward Sanders of late. During one campaign stop in New Hampshire, Sanders snarked:
“I talk about (Amazon’s taxes) all of the time … And then I wonder why The Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon, doesn’t write particularly good articles about me. I don’t know why.”
It appears the corporate elite media outlets have flipped to page 120 of their 2020 narrative playbook and let out a coordinated group wail. The rapidly declining CNN called the attack “ridiculous” and “no different from what Trump does.” CBS opined that Bernie “echoes Trump” in blaming media for bad press. You know something is up when the flaming socialist is rudely compared to the capitalist in chief. Seems like the ivory tower’s personnel were not pleased with Sanders’ temper tantrum.
Is it True?
Do the media show bias against Sanders or is he crying “wolf” as his campaign lands in second position? Let’s face the basest of facts: Our mainstream media companies are run by the wealthiest of our citizens and, make no mistake, their bottom line is of utmost importance. And those top-tier moguls – the likes of Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Rupert Murdoch – can’t help but want to project their interests from their mega-billion-dollar bully pulpits.
With his wealth-ending battle cry, Sanders is not someone they would wish to be the next president of the United States. For that matter, they don’t embrace any Democratic candidate that spouts progressive policies – which is everyone but Biden.
Perhaps Bernie is channeling his would-be nemesis Trump. The president did call out the “elites” and create the fake news mantra cheered by many Americans. The media are elitist. Bernie sees that and is not afraid to poke the digital bear. But this war won’t end well for Sanders. There is only one Godzilla in the Swamp today.
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Read more from Sarah Cowgill.
