Journalist Matt Karp says progressives are faced with a “challenging media environment” as they look to win elections in the coming years.
“There’s no question … it’s a challenging media environment for progressive candidates,” Karp, a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine said during an appearance on Hill TV’s “Rising” this week. “We saw this in the way major news outlets covered Bernie Sanders.”
Corporate media outlets did not miss an opportunity to “take shots” at Sanders during his two recent runs for president, Karp added.
“That’s going to be a challenge for any candidate who comes out with a populist, unapologetically economically left message,” he said.
Sanders himself has criticized mainstream media outlets for how they have covered progressive causes in recent weeks.
“The reality that the mainstream media has done an exceptionally poor job in covering what actually is in the legislation,” Sanders said of the sweeping social spending plan Democrats were negotiating in October. “There have been endless stories about the politics of passing Build Back Better, the role of the president, the conflicts in the House and the Senate, the opposition of two senators, the size of the bill, etc. – but very limited coverage as to what the provisions of the bill are and the crises for working people that they address.”
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