General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders Is Losing Primary Battles, But Winning A War [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)As has repeatedly been reported:
1) During the 2016 primaries, the corporate media drastically under-reported Bernie's campaign. He had more success than did any of the Republicans except Trump -- for example, he received a larger share of the votes cast than did Cruz and Kasich, combined -- but did not receive corresponding coverage.
2) The corporate media reported the delegate counts with all the announced superdelegate preferences lumped in with the pledged delegates chosen by the voters. On that basis, the Associated Press, NBC News, and perhaps other outlets pronounced Clinton the presumptive Democratic nominee before the voting in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, and the District of Columbia, even though Clinton herself properly refrained from making any such assertion until she had enough pledged delegates.
As a generalization, you're correct in saying that the media have an interest in creating or exaggerating drama. In the particular case of a democratic socialist candidate, however, the profit-driven mass media, owned by a handful of giant corporations, managed to resist that temptation.