A Bit of Light on the Bernie Blackout

It’s becoming absolutely impossible to ignore how badly the press treats Bernie Sanders. They can’t quite completely ignore him any more, and he’s had some great guest spots on the late night talk shows, but…
A poll was released in New Hampshire the other day, and Bernie Sanders won it. This is big news because New Hampshire is the second state in the selection process (after Iowa) and the first primary state, because Iowa has the caucus system. In 2016, Bernie crushed Hillary in New Hampshire, although she still got the most delegates.
CNN ran five separate stories on the poll. Not one of them had “Bernie Wins New Hampshire Poll” as the headline, which any first year journalism student could tell you should be the headline of a story about a poll which was won by Bernie Sanders.
One headline said “Buttigieg in fourth, but a strong fourth.” So, I suppose you could accuse them of being unfair to Biden and Warren, as well. The only time a newspaper should lead with a fourth place finish is if it’s a high school paper reporting on their own team.
Another said “This is a historically unprecedented New Hampshire mess.” A nice touch, that they manage to avoid mentioning the candidates entirely. But, it’s not true. There is nothing unprecedented in there being a large number of candidates at this stage of the game, and it is inevitable that some of them would be ahead of others. So, it is not unprecedented, and it is not a mess.
Another one also avoided mentioning any of the candidates. It read “Early state primary voters much more undecided than voters nationally.” Undecideds in this poll were 10%, but they don’t show any national polls for comparison. Besides, 10% is not a huge amount, before the primaries have even begun.
One headline simply read “A disappointing poll for Biden.” True, I suppose, but Biden has been a walking corpse for several months now. Another disappointing poll for Biden is hardly newsworthy.
One headline did mention Sanders, but still managed to throw shade: “Sanders and Warren sit at top in New Hampshire, but there’s no clear front runner.” Yes, there is. Sanders was ahead of Warren by 3 points.
It’s not a landslide, yet, but it does mean Sanders is the clear front runner.