In his Friday night newsletter, CNN's Brian Stelter touted how Mike Allen of Axios was slamming the media. For what grave offense?
The media rarely treats Sanders, 78, with the seriousness warranted by his sustained popularity and fundraising.
Like in 2016, Sanders has a legit shot to win the nomination — and an unshakable base to brace him.
Notice how Allen doesn't categorize that "unshakable base" by its extreme location on the ideological scale (socialist).
Allen touted how Sanders topped the Democrat field in the fourth quarter with $35 million in contributions, "a timely reminder that the socialist senator from Vermont is the single most consistently popular and viable Democrat of the past half-decade." (Hillary Clinton scowls.)
This tale of neglect would be right if you're considering how much time Bernie's getting on TV news. Rich Noyes found he drew 10 minutes of TV evening-news coverage last summer (compared to Biden's 74 minutes, and Trump's 838).
But in the same item, Allen cited his (and Stelter's) old employer, The New York Times, as it played up Bernie's seriousness:
Between the lines: "His anti-establishment message hasn’t changed for 50 years, and it resonates with working-class voters and young people who agree the system is corrupt," the N.Y. Times wrote from Iowa last week.
"Sanders's revival has reshuffled the Democratic primary race, providing a counterweight to the shift toward centrism in recent months that has elevated Mayor Pete Buttigieg."
The headline on the Times piece was "Why Bernie Sanders Is Tough to Beat: His supporters are loyal, and in Iowa they don’t really have eyes for anyone else." Reporter Sydney Ember gushed "With less than six weeks until voting begins, the loyalty Mr. Sanders commands has turned him into a formidable contender in the 2020 race."
So we're told the press doesn't treat Sanders seriously enough??
The Washington Free Beacon noted CNN touted the Sanders fundraising numbers and then allowed Bernie's campaign manager Faiz Shakir to accuse Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg of kowtowing at "the altar of the rich."
