as -- not living in Iowa -- I'm not privy to the nature of their coverage, or lack there of.

Greatly informative post.

The more this happens the more I know if she is elected that I won't vote her.

in the tank for Clinton in Iowa?

Sure they are!

Just like the national mass media has been in the tank for Clinton (RW meme) since she announced...yeah, maybe in some alternate universe!

That's where the big ad buys come from and that's where the money flows from, they will do nothing to upset that flow.

...if you can't see it or if you offer no rational comment, than please refrain from adding to the discussion that I started.

This is no "RW meme" sweetheart. I am a proud Democrat and I know what I am seeing and experiencing in my own state.

Your effort to muddy the waters has been noted.

we the people are going to have to spread the message if we want anything to change

If they can't refute then dismiss. Don't expect substance in the response.


As to the op, we all knew this was going to happen coming in. People in power don't give up.power without a fight. Same applies to money.


We're just going to have to work harder to go around them getting the message out.

I know this. I knew this going in, as you said.

It just sucks watching it happen.

I know they also use polls, some of them most likely fake, to quell the opposition. If they'll use the media as a PR arm for their campaign--and to minimize the other candidate, it's not out of the question that some polls are biased or flawed.

You are absolutely right. We just need to press forward. I'm certainly not going to allow any of this to dissuade me from showing up to the caucuses and rallying for Bernie.

Also, it's important to remember that this could backfire. It backfired on Hillary in Iowa in 08. Iowans don't like to feel like they're being manipulated into voting for the media's anointed one.

regarding the candidates. If they don't understand it send them Plessy v. Ferguson (1894) with added photos of Jim Crow era school classroom conditions and apartheid in SA. Relevant because the media co. is separating persons by perceived status and worth, in effect not granting equal coverage and opportunity to candidates that lack resources, name recognition and Party preference which are not criteria to enter the primary. Candidates are being denied access, which fosters disadvantage and the company is practicing unequal treatment of candidates who are in fact equal in every respect in this endeavor.

Three Candidates on the Debate Stage, equal and unseparated, the way it's supposed to be.

I don't understand your comment?

While she may or may not be their choice to win the general, she is their choice for the general, to the extent they have a choice. Sanders certainly isn't.
I am not approving or condoning that. I am simply saying it is.

Excuse my being dense - I got up late and have not had enough coffee yet.

Their bias..as you know, Fred Sanders. You often post about the corruption of the corporate media. Yes, the media bashes Clinton,but ignores her opponents. Why do you think that is?

from everyone, naturally.

The candidates for Presidency are now really only four.....the three we have and the one they pick to convince folks magic is preferable to reality.

message getting to the people. People just might start to see the reality.

Their bread is buttered. And Citizens United has created a whole lot of butter to be had.

Sadly, as with so many things, follow the money and the truth will reveal itself.

And have been since he announced. It is what it is and is was expected. You are going to have to find other ways to get the word out....old-fashioned word of mouth using all the tools at your disposal.

How bout some mass demonstrations of support across the country . Weekends are good for me. Watch parties and such are great but just preaching to the choir. Ideas , comments ?

The flyers could start by showig how the media is ignoring Sanders and in the tank for the establishment candidate, then give people some basic facts about who Bernie is and what he will work to do for them.

how would someone get a hold of something like this that would be Sanders campaign approved ?

I wish I could say I am surprised.

I'm numb to the point that nothing surprises me.

Freedom is an illusion. Get over it.

Debbie-Wasserman-Schultz, isn't it???

Trying to make our M$M more fair means taking on the FCC, reversing the 1996 Telecom Act by Clinton that deregulated media ownership, reviving the 1940s Fairness Doctrine and the older Sherman Anti-Trust Act that Reagan dissed. It's a lot, yet confronting and exposing the powerful, monied 5 Consolidated Media Conglomerates needs to happen somehow.

Disney (ABC), CBS, News Corp (Fox), Comcast/NBC, Time Warner, Viacom- the Big Five control of 90% of all we see, hear and read.




(replace GE with Comcast)

Infotainment - HuffPost style - "Mass Attack Paris" posted next to "'Friends' Cast Secretly Used Doubles In Multiple Episodes"

We used to have the Fairness Doctrine - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine - it wasn't perfect but it was better.

Add to that the end of "local" stations due to media consolidation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership

"One explanation for the cause of the concentration of media ownership is a shift to neoliberal deregulation policies, which is a market-driven approach."

Journalism is dead.

Infotainment is all we'll ever get as long as we maintain the status quo.

Bernie supporters sure didn't mind the Iowa polls and the Iowa media when the race was tightening many weeks ago. But now that Hillary is starting to solidify her support all of a sudden the media is ignoring poor Bernie.

Boo hoo.

they weren't being blatantly biased when reporting that. did you read the OP?

Other than the latter drives the former.

i read it right here on DU every day!

The media ❤️ $$$ and any candidate with lots of it.

Hillary is taking full advantage of the massive flow of money into her campaign superPACs made possible by Citizens United.

Bernie refuses to take money from superPACs because it's against his principals and he feels it damages democracy...and he's right.

would get as much Clinton advertising revenue as a pro Clinton station would. Bernie and O'Malley just do not have the money for that kind of leverage.

its us vs them, don't let them win. go out and canvas or make some phone calls today. put up yard signs, start conversations.

real world conversations are much more effective than mass media. we just can't sit around and let the establishment do all the talking.

boils down to anti-democratic voter manipulation.

Media consolidation is another gift to the industry courtesy of Bill Clinton.

voting for the corporate media coronation candidate. should she be the nominee, i am thoroughly disgusted with this illusion of democracy. like the millenials i will not play along with this fucking sham.

its an oligarchy folks.

....media mentions. One of the three articles that you posted was an informational blurb the town, time and place that Bernie would be speaking. The basic who, what, where when and why was covered.

Not exactly the multi-page, front-page spread that touts Hillary as the "inevitable" candidate while describing her campaign as a "juggernaut" and declaring her the unstoppable winner.

Seriously.

small states which do not resemble the rest country in many important ways.

You posted a couple of very, very short blurbs about Sanders from the Des Moines Register.

Look at what the same newspaper, the Des Moines Register, wrote about Hillary Clinton just a few days ago. This was front page of the Sunday Des Moines Register. Here's the headline and first paragraph:

-------------------
AS IOWA DEBATE APPROACHES, CLINTON SEEMS INEVITABLE AGAIN

"It's hard to foresee a result other than the Hillary Clinton juggernaut winning Iowa unless something major blows up in the presidential race, Democratic activists say.
--------------

Now tell me that "Sanders to speak in Indianola" and an article saying that Clinton is inevitable--are the same thing.

This is crazy unfair! Our caucuses are two-and-a-half months away! No one is "inevitable".

Links to the OP and this thread have been <re>tweeted @iowa4bernie and posted to G+
Facebook, instagram, and other social media users can/should actively confront any and all MSM bias wherever noted.

We have a LOUD voice, that can be heard even over the din of establishment media.

CCM is a literally accurate description. There is nothing "mainstream" about them. It also is a better indicator of their biases.

the theme of 'Network,' the 1976 movie based on Paddy Chayefsky's view of declining network television news as it devolved into INFOTAINMENT. The movie received four Academy Awards.

on DU, the media's evilness (and trust-worthiness) is directly in line with what it is reporting.

From 2000 - 2008, the media was evil and not to be trusted at all ... from 2008 - 2015, it was to be non-evil, trustworthy and to be defended, so long as it was critically reporting on Democrats, praising G.A.S., etc., ... Now, since May 2015, it is distrustful and evil, again.

an evil CORPORATE media post on DU..... about their corporate candidate.

What's so funny?

I'm saying that the media is unfair and is clearly biased against Clinton. I've included several examples.

I'm sitting in Iowa, seeing the media behave as the PR arm for the Clinton campaign. They also did this to Obama during the 2012 campaign in which they favored Romney. They also favored Joni Ernst and gave her a total free pass. It's wrong whenever it happens.

If you don't want to be a serious part of this discussion, then buzz off.

And has been ever since her husband first started running for President.

You have provided good counter-examples, however. Thank you.

If she uses these underhanded tactics to get elected, she absolutely will use them while in office to further benefit herself.
Corruption cannot be fought by using more corruption...that only perpetuates the cycle. It's exactly that cycle I want destroyed.
Corporations need less power, not more. Hillary will give them more. Her past actions prove that.

a right to know the whole story. My brother is going to the caucuses. I need to make sure he has pamphlets and the issues re: Bernie's plans. NW Iowa is very red so I am sure he only knows what the MSM wants him to know.

That part of IA may very well never vote in the general for a blue candidate but at least they can in the primary.

to the OP.

the Des Moines Register has always been important in Iowa - are they ignoring Bernie to?

...and Central Iowa.

It's the largest Iowa media market, by far.

The Des Moines Register is the most widely read newspaper in Iowa. People read their local papers, but the Register is read state-wide. It is the paper of record in Iowa.

They cover snippets about Bernie. They certainly don't write positively slanted articles about him that call him, "inevitable" like they do for Clinton. I posted this in another thread, but there is the headline and first paragraph about the Iowa primary that was the front-page story this past Sunday in the Des Moines Register:

As Iowa Debate Approaches, Clinton Seems Inevitable Again
"It's hard to foresee a result other than the Hillary Clinton juggernaut winning Iowa unless something major blows up in the presidential race, Democratic activists say."

Link to the full article:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/11/07/as-iowa-debate-approaches-hillary-clinton-seems-inevitable-again/75314226/

not worry about their 'inevitable' to much - that is one of the things that make me most angry when they say that. I have been a Democrat for 74 years and I get very upset if someone tries to tell me I have no choice in who I elect and that is what 'inevitable' means. I am sure I am not the only one who resents it.

When you live in a state that is first to vote in the primary--you tend to take this responsibility seriously. At least that is how I perceive that most Iowans feel.

We resented Hillary's "inevitability" in 2008.

I think she's got a pretty cozy relationship with the Iowa media, and if the campaign pushes it too far, it could backfire.

Like you said, all of this, "Hillary is inevitable" and "Hillary will win barring any big disaster" nonsense leaves people feeling as if they have no choice. Voters do not like being told that!

All of this also underscores her corporate connections. And many in the Democratic party consider the corporate-political enmeshment to be corruption that needs to be stopped.

So yeah, all of this blatant media favoritism would work against her, as we get closer to the caucuses.

Let the Register know that voters are upset. They read the net also.

Formerly known as the St. Pete Times.

Much appreciated and sad to read your observation of the Iowa MSM. Yet not surprising as the MSM is owned lock, stock and barrel by 6 Corporations that are not "Friends with Bernie", however with other Candidates.....Well.....

I agree Clinton is enjoying a lot of biased press. And, I saw the article/vid you mentioned, it doesn't cover Bernie at all.
My next step was to search the site for "Bernie Sanders":

...in any KCCI article. Of course, he has been. O'Malley has been mentioned in many articles too.

But, you have to admit that posting only Hillary Clinton photos and video within an article about the impending debate, is a bit unfair--especially when the other candidates aren't even mentioned in the article.

This debate is a big moment for the campaign--one of the milestone moments. So the pre- and post-coverage is important. Many people only tune into politics during this time--and if only one candidate is featured in an article--that sends a distinct message, no?

I worked in media relations for many years. I understand when reporters are playing up one point of view or leveraging a certain cause or product. This is very deliberate. Extremely. You can cover the competition with dry, factual mentions and then puff up the other side in ways that make the other guy disappear . We all know what bias looks like.

There are plenty of examples, but the Iraq war comes to mind. Sure, the opposition was covered. But anti-war efforts were sidebars. They were "Oh, and this is happening too" parts of the Iraq War story.

Sanders feels like a sidebar. Whereas Clinton feels like the Iraq War, when you look at the big picture.

And sure, you could Google "Iraq anti-war protests" and many articles will appear. That doesn't mean that the anti-war effort was covered as fairly or positioned as important as the pro-war spectacle that we experienced for months.

the "Can't she fight fair?" comment.

She is a part of the establishment, but inferring she controls the media is a bridge too far for me.

I agree it isn't fair but that's our system right now.

It's simply sickening at how lazy we have become as a people that we can't collectively muster the will to change it.

Why not write a letter to the editor. Hillary does not own the local media

I meant what else do they have to or watch.

Oh yeah, there's that Hawkeye football that's being played at the same time. That's okay though because it's not like they're undefeated and hoping to play for the Big Ten title, right?

the idea that the Debate cannot be heard or see because on a game is pathetic.

... as well as a win that will give them their best season start in their program's history (10-0).

I guess though if they are true Democrats they'll either not go to the football game if they have season tickets, or they'll just DVR it to watch it later then too. Fortunately I can DVR them both and be at a sports bar where they they will have the debates and hopefully also have a channel on this game too.

... earlier on the day between two top 4 teams in Iowa and Oklahoma State on the same football field earlier that day for a record crowd of around 35,000 making it likely the most ever to see a wrestling match on record. More Iowans that won't travel from the west side of the state to Des Moines or want to be "distracted" by a debate on that day.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2015-11-10/ncaa-wrestling-iowa-oklahoma-state-expect-35k-outdoor-meet

When debates are supposed to be events that bring other potential voters in to see what the Democratic Party is doing, especially in the early caucus of Iowa which presumably this debate was supposed to be for, they really SUCKED at planning this. Either the DWS lead DNS is pretty conniving to intentionally screw this party in terms of drawing in more voter attention which arguably the event in Iowa was supposed to be, or it was VERY poorly planned to be an "inviting" event to potential Iowa voters. In either case, the leadership of the DNC NEEDS to go!!!

Iowa press is writing about this STUPIDITY as well!

http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2015/11/12/football-and-debate-clash-in-iowa/

K&R.

she wants to be president and she will push the party apparatus to push her in. Unless we get a huge turn-out by the kids (they are very active on Reddit) it isn't happening. And then she will get beat in the general. I never really disliked her before but also didn't think she could win in 2008 so I worked for Obama. I thought he had the charisma to win and he did.

She is taking no chances this time and watching this behavior has made me actively dislike her. And that's where I'll leave it.

That is why she is running a campaign. Her campaign. She is a Democrat who has worked to build the Democratic Party. She has been building relationships for decades whether the cameras are rolling nearby or not.

Bernie is not positioned to be an overnight sensation that fills a vacuum like Jimmy Carter did. Jimmy Carter's media-savvy campaign didn't face a Hillary Clinton. Hillary is doing more than just "creating buzz."

Get to work.

Bernie has to take Iowa to have a chance. Iowa is probably the best place to fight for him.

I got comments deleted too during the Obama campaigns - I even got banned from some like Jake Tapper's on ABC - for putting them back up. Got a new handle and put them back up again.

It is a way to fight back.

long before the elections started.

Why not tell us how you really feel?

These are quotes from the original post, y'know....post 0.

Why can't Clinton supporters pay attention?

you need the votes of Sanders supporters to win.

need to realize that this is a presidential election, not a goddamned football game.

This primary is going exactly like the one 8 years ago went. She's leading in the polls to an unknown who has "no chance of winning."

best positioned to win the general election"

July 2007

I've heard this "guaranteed to win" thing before. Soon it will be like the next "end of the world" prediction.

by all this talk--three fucking months before the first primary--that she is guaranteed the primary and that Sanders just can't win the election when the polls you want to talk about show him beating the Republican candidates as well.

But keep telling us how Clinton has been crowned already and we should just give it up. Because THAT'S the way to gain supporters, apparently.

That always helps to get someone to vote for your candidate.

... for big money to push those to endorse her and not to endorse him as big money would rather see someone that is more aligned with them than Bernie is, when he is more committed to answer to the people at large the way a politician SHOULD be in the traditional sense of what they should do in a democracy.

Bernie has far more "endorsements" of people that have come to attend his rallies and other events than Clinton has had. Those are the entities that actually vote.

Over Trump or Carson?


or even Jeb?


Baloney! Another RW meme. Keep spreading 'em!

...products, companies, politicians, causes--are primarily influenced by the PR and media-relations teams that represent those interests.

I imagine that Hillary has a large communications team that is working the media 24/7. I don't begrudge them that. They're just doing their jobs. It's a job in which I worked for many years.

Eighty percent of what you read in the newspapers and see on television news, is there because a PR person pitched the information to a reporter.

So, I get it. I understand how all of this works. I also know that this is a political campaign where candidates fight for any advantage that they can get. It can get dirty.

My main concern is that the media is failing to do their job. By leveraging Clinton so much and disseminating her talking points, they are not reporting the news. They are providing a very biased and inaccurate account of basic events--like a debate. You look at that article about the debate--and it's all Hillary Clinton. No mention of Sanders or O'Malley. That's...not right.

I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. But whatever has happened--Clinton is getting an unfair advantage and is being painted in a glowing light--while Sanders is rendered invisible. That's not fair.

Iowans are relying on our local media to make informed decisions. They're not doing their jobs and they're doing a disservice to our state and to our caucus system.

case. That 1894 ruling claimed that black and white children had equal educational facilities, materials and opportunities, but separate, which was a horrible lie. The system didn't change until the Civil Rights movement in many areas. Disgrace.

I wish Elizabeth Warren would endorse Bernie, that would be incredible & a morale lift. But she will choose, in good time.

before April 2015 with more motivation than the fawning calls to a radio show?

In that shocker, Obama finished First,
(The Real Shock) Edwards finished a strong 2nd,
and Hillary pulled up at 3rd.

I was excited to find out how the Media would report on this major upset....but they just ignored Edwards,
didn't mention his name...and I''m NOT talking local Iowa news, the National Media refused to mention his name.

I waited for Olberman and Maddow on MSNBC believing that THEY would report the news...but the same.
Neither Olberman nor Maddow mentioned Edwards name...or even that there was a 2nd Place.
As far as MSNBC was concerned, there was NO 2nd Place,
only 1st and 3rd.
The entire Hoopla was about the horse race between Obama and Clinton.

As much as I liked (and like) Maddow, she serves her masters.
I had to stop watching.

The way to counter this is to roll out the ground game. As a promising and ultimately very successful young presidential candidate once said, get out there, get in their faces!

That town when I worked there had two entities owning most of the media in that town with the same company owning the Gazette newspaper and KCRG television and radio stations, and the other local CBS affiliate owned by another entity. I think that other media conglomerates might have bought one or more of these entities out since then, but having just two entities in the market at that time tainted the objectivity a little on certain kinds of news stories and we started to see just the beginning of news content being driven by adjacent television content ratings then about the time of the start of the Reagan era then.

Bernie wants to rein them in and make them actually start paying back some of what they're pillaged over the last twenty years. The republican candidates are insane and could literally destroy the country. Hillary will keep the oligarchy intact and the money flowing from working people to the ruling class.

This will make you spit up... http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251804229

you hear is a name of any Repub person running for POTUS and the ONLY person they mention Is HILLARY who they will run against. NEVER a peep about Bernie or O'Malley! NEVER in my LIFE could I have imagined a country who calls itself the BEACON OF DEMOCRACY stoop so low and essentially made a decision that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee! If the ONLY name that ever gets any coverage by almost every single media outlet WITHOUT giving any mention of another candidate, it becomes VERY clear what's going on.

Rarely do I hear much mention of the other two, while on the other side Trump and Carson basically get FREE coverage by them. THIS isn't Democracy and I'm appalled and sickened that this country no longer seems to care or even give any thought to "we the people!" There is only ONE way to have our voices heard and it's not by relying on voting because more and more we hear how screwed up and how easy it is to manipulate machine voting.

So many say that taking to the streets will never work, but what else is here? I KNOW I don't feel that my voice will be heard or even given a second thought should I contact members of Congress or they even care. They too have rolled over. So many of the members of Congress who we felt we could rely on have already come out in support of Hillary. I feel so betrayed by them, but even more I feel our voices don't matter. How can this be called a Democracy??

The groups that I'm aware of locally tell me that there is a Bernie Sanders Group, but there's also a group for Democrats that will support all candidates. However, if I choose to join up with our local Democrats I should KNOW that I'm required to vote for Hillary if she's the nominee! How could she NOT be the nominee with statements like that? And how much support does anyone think they will even give to any other candidate? Basically it says to me that "see the handwriting on the wall" or sit down and SHUT UP!

What a mockery of Democracy! Is this really what we want to settle for?? I see no alternative other than outright REVOLUTION, and I seriously DOUBT most people have it within themselves to see or understand why they should get off their butts to do anything.

It's utterly SHAMEFUL how far we've fallen and disgusting that we have let it come to this point where we are EXPECTED to let ourselves be so manipulated. Other than alternative TV, I don't know of ANY MSM channel that's even close to being fair. I think if we saw this happening in any other country, it would be called A BLACKOUT of real news.

Media blackouts, skewed polls and vicious wedge attacks.

Bernie having race problems, sexism problems, wasn't the guy in the picture, plans cost too much, has no real accomplishment in the House or Senate, etc.

All we can do is keep using social media to get the word out and make sure our friends vote.

Unbelievable what you posted. What the hell happened to our democracy? The oligarchy has all the power, and it may be too late to reverse it. I mean, how in the hell can we have a democracy without democracy? Bernie is a huge threat to them, and they want nothing to do with him. Limiting exposure since day 1 has been a real issue for Bernie. All of the networks are in on it. The primary, and all those votes, is the really the only issue.

corp-media are not looking the other way as the corp-media favors their candidate. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

I was just reading that tomorrow's Democratic debate in Des Moines is being hosted by CBS and the Des Moines Register.

My initial post was about unfair articles from our local CBS affiliate (KCCI). I then showed further local bias in the Des Moines Register article, "As Iowa Debate Approaches, Clinton Seems Inevitable Again." That article was front page, last Sunday and was the primary article about the Democratic primary and the upcoming debate.

And these two media outlets--CBS and the Des Moines Register--are hosting the debate and providing the moderators who will be questioning the candidates.

Quite an interesting coincidence---that the two media outlets that seem to be the worst offenders at downplaying Bernie/leveraging Clinton--are also hosting the debate.

We've been calling Iowa voters and the few that we could get ahold of are voting Hillary. Very few willing to caucus for Bernie which is why I'm VERY worried about Iowa.

As if they haven't completely obvious in their bias for some time.

The entire media is a nest of snakes.

and the whores they are we will win this thing. I had a very pleasant encounter with a person who I never met and will never see again a few days ago that shows me there is a lot of us Bernie Sanders supporters out here.

Here's a link to that post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251792316

Corporate media fawns over pro-corporate candidate.

Color me shocked.

If the corporations win it will be a shareholders victory. As it always is when what is left of our grass roots democracy loses.

We might have to resort to faxes and letters since all media including our telephones are monitored and controlled by the conservative elite even as much as can be managed right here on DU where there is serious message control being used to block Bernie Sanders supporters, including all the dirty tricks to make Sanders Supporters look like apes in a china shop. Anyone can get a user name and sign on as a Bernie supporter and fling mud that is then attacked by the dear sweet Hillary supporters.

It would be nice if Hillary really was a voice of the people, she is very pointedly distancing herself from that role and that big pile of money supporting her is using all the dirty tricks in the book to do so.

Send Bernie's campaign a contribution, no matter how small, it counts and that makes you count.


If you read a little history, the Democratic once had a campaign, Dollars for Democrats, where even a dollar could help against the oligarchs it still can, there are three hundred million people in the U.S. we are being silenced with money and we will have to use money to fight back.

The owners of the corporate media are part of the ruling class-why would they want an educated population that will question the current economic system and vote to make significant changes to it? The system is working great for the owners.