As Examples Mount, Bernie Sanders Campaign Accuses Corporate Media of "Deliberate Attempt to Erase Bernie" by Jake Johnson!
(2019-11-05 at 17:33:41 )

As Examples Mount, Bernie Sanders Campaign Accuses Corporate Media of "Deliberate Attempt to Erase Bernie" by Jake Johnson

"All of these examples are no accident," said campaign speechwriter David Sirota. "But here is some news: We are not being erased. We are going to win."

Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign alleged Monday that corporate media outlets are intentionally ignoring-and attempting to undermine-the Vermont senators significant gains in recent polls with "cartoonishly inaccurate" reporting and headlines.

"In the last week, a wave of polls has emerged showing a genuine, full-on Bernie surge-but you might not know that if you tuned into cable TV or read the headlines from the national press corps," Mr. Sanders speechwriter David Sirota wrote in the campaigns Bern Notice newsletter. "In fact, you might not even know Bernie is running for president."

"Despite all this data, many in the national press corps continued to both inaccurately report the polling results-and also pretend Bernie does not exist."-David Sirota, speechwriter for Sen. Bernie Sanders

Mr. Sirota highlighted what he described as a widening "divide between The Actual Polls and The Medias Manufactured Narrative."

The polls, Mr. Sirota noted, show Mr. Sanders is leading in New Hampshire, in second place and gaining momentum in Iowa, in second place and surging in the key battleground state of Michigan, and the only 2020 Democrat leading President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

"Despite all this data, many in the national press corps continued to both inaccurately report the polling results-and also pretend Bernie Sanders does not exist," wrote Mr. Sirota, who pointed to several flagrant examples that he said are part of a pattern of media outlets attempting to "ignore and derail" the Sanders campaigns momentum.

"In a report about its own poll showing Bernie in first place in New Hampshire," Mr. Sirota wrote. "CNN put an inaccurate graphic up showing Bernie in second place."

The Intercepts Ryan Grim highlighted the error on Twitter:

The poll on the right actually found Mr. Sanders in first. It is even CNNs poll. They dropped him to 2 anyway.-Ryan Grim November 2, 2019

Mr Sirota also cited a report by the New York Times claiming that South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg "eclipsed" Mr. Sanders-despite the poll the story was based showing Sanders in second place ahead of Buttigieg.

On other occasions, corporate media outlets like CNN and the Times have simply left Sanders out of the conversation-a phenomenon the Sanders campaign has described as the "Bernie Blackout."

Journalist Ken Klippenstein noted the phenomenon on Monday in response to the Times poll that showed Warren and Sanders-given the margin of error-statistically tied. The newspapers push notification tellingly left Mr. Sanders name out entirely.

Ah yes, the only three contenders-Ken Klippenstein November 1, 2019

Last week, Grim highlighted CNNs decision not to give Mr. Sanders the headline for its latest Iowa state poll even though he came out on top:

CNN has five articles up about its new NH poll that shows Mr. Sanders in front, yet none of the five say that in the headline-Ryan Grim October 29, 2019

As the patchwork of evidence mounts, critical observers of the corporate medias treatment of Mr. Sanders have now made efforts to compile examples of the behavior:

THREAD: Corporate medias anti-Bernie campaign

There is a constant stream of disinformation & lies about Bernie 2020 coming from corporate media. Let us document it all in one place.

Use this as a resource & definitely add anything I missed.-Samuel D. Finkelstein II November 2, 2019

"All of these examples are no accident," Mr. Sirota tweeted late Monday. "This is a deliberate attempt to erase Bernie Sanders. But here is some news: We are not being erased. We are going to win."

If one of these things happened, you could call it an accident. But all of them together suggest that this is a deliberate effort by billionaire-owned media to erase Bernie Sanders, the candidate most powerfully confronting the billionaire class.-David Sirota November 4, 2019

The Sanders team has not been shy about calling out unfair corporate media coverage of the Vermont senators 2020 presidential campaign.

In July, as Common Dreams reported, the campaign fired back at MSNBC after several hosts and contributors to the Comcast-owned network launched a series of fact-free attacks on Mr. Sanders.

The Vermont senator in August also called out what he described as biased coverage of the campaign by the Washington Post, owned by worlds richest man and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

"We have said from the start that we will have to take on virtually the entire media establishment in this campaign, and so far that has proven to be true," Mr. Sanders tweeted at the time. "Ok. Fine. We are ready."

Reprinted here from "Common Dreams" has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported.