It’s difficult to tell at times, if one is accustomed to watching the daily news broadcasts, that Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sanders is actually in the race for president. Reason being is because the bulk of political news focuses on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a far cray from the mandatory equal time the news media is supposed to give politicians in a race.
Trump’s every word and utterance is captured and broadcast even if it has nothing to do with the issues of the campaign. His tirades, jokes, and other unorthodox characteristics are headline news and spotlighted on news based talk shows. Hillary Clinton has been out in front of the news cameras as well. She’s not covered any new ground regarding issues but her visits to meetings, citizen gatherings and comments on everyday life get airplay that Bernie Sanders seems to miss out on.
It doesn’t take a pile of statistics to validate this. Just watching such networks as CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC, one will see more coverage regarding Trump, then Clinton, then the other Republican hopefuls, and then Bernie Sanders. Even though Sanders is pulling in double digit numbers in Iowa, and massive crowds wherever he goes, never mind the fact that Sanders only discusses pertinent political issues, he’s been put on the back burner and people have become highly suspicious.
The networks have been evasive on the issue and it’s clear as to why. Trump is a ratings bonanza for them. He strategically uses hot button words and topics to stir controversy which the low brow end of the public spectrum likes, similar to the crowds that used to cheer on the professional wrestling matches of decades ago. Unable to see through the theatrics, the public will pile into any news broadcast that highlights Trumps tirades.
Trump does make the ratings and sells newspapers, thus advertisers are happy. Sanders on the other hand is constantly exposing corruption, tyranny, unethical behavior in industry and government, issues the American people want addressed and the other candidates, both Republican and Democrats avoid like the plague. The news media is owned by corporations that the public doesn’t realize do not have to report accurately. This throws things off and makes Sanders look like less than a valuable presence in the presidential elections.
People make the mistake of accepting what the news presents is what ‘God’ wants or thinks is important, when in truth, an editorial committee decides what is presented on the news and that editorial committee is made up of execs who follow the orders of their corporate bosses, intelligence community operatives, government, and advertisers. This puts Sanders in a battle to gain the respect he should be due. This isn’t the case on the internet though. Sanders rocks the internet both in the US and globally because the people aren’t restricted in what they investigate and cover in their news. This rubs the big media companies the wrong way as it’s obvious they’ve a vested interest in promoting Trump and Clinton even when they’ve nothing of merit to say regarding political issues.
The big trouble will be this year as social media expands to unprecedented levels and people continue to drop their cable networks and go web only. The big media companies will be hard pressed to compete with the various websites, blogs, that cover the news and reach millions and that may be the best option for Bernie Sanders.
