Ken Berwitz
In case you think media\’s “Trump and Trump alone” coverage is only hurting his Republican rivals….
….please be advised that it is also hurting Hillary Clinton\’s rival – and, in the process, helping Ms. Clinton enormously.
Donald Trump\’scampaign is drowning out media coverage of Sen. Bernie Sanders, frustrating theliberal presidential contender and making it tougher for him to get attention.
Sanders has lashed outat the media over what his team refers to as a corporate news “blackout” of hiscampaign.
Pointingthe finger directly at the media\’s obsession with Trump, the Sanders campaignover the weekend touted a Media Matters for America analysis that found the GOPfrontrunner had logged 81 minutes of coverage on ABC\’s “WorldNews Tonight” compared to 20 seconds for Sanders.
The complaint comes ata critical juncture for the Sanders campaign, which is struggling to build onits early momentum and needs a breakout moment to beat back the perception thatHillary Clinton\’s nomination is a foregone conclusion.
ABC “World News Tonight” has given Donald Trump 81 minutes of coverage to 20 seconds for Sanders? Now why would he find that problematic?
It is true that Donald Trump has a great talent for grabbing the spotlight – moreso than just about anyone, politician or otherwise, I have seen in recent years.
But this does not happen without media complicity. And since mainstream media – especially broadcast media – find Trump\’s shoot-from-the-hip mouth
-is great for viewership,
-and shuts up more serious Republican opposition,
-and takes the heat off of Hillary Clinton for the emails that have come out showing she was lying in her teeth about Benghazi, thus enabling her supporters to say “oh, that again, you guys never give up do you?” instead of explaining the lies…
…it also serves the purpose of boosting their obvious favorite\’s chances of getting into the White House after their current favorite, Barack Obama, leaves.
So while I commiserate with you, Bernie, on the virtual news blackout media have visited upon you, please understand that it is being done for exactly the same reason that has benefited Democrats, to the detriment of Republicans, for decades: partisanship parading as journalism.
And Donald Trump, who couldn\’t care less about anyone as long as he is on the center stage, is loving every minute of it.
