8 ms·

Andrew Yang was getting pushed out and ignored the whole time. There are many egregious examples of how he was being excluded: https://vocal.media/theSwamp/a-vi

by Reedx 7y ago

Andrew Yang was getting pushed out and ignored the whole time. There are many egregious examples of how he was being excluded: https://vocal.media/theSwamp/a-visual-history-of-the-yang-media-blackout https://vocal.media/theSwamp/a-visual-history-of-the-yang-me... We couldn't trust the media already, Bloomberg will just be another example making this clearer.

filoleg 7y ago
Thanks for sharing this article. I had a gut feeling that Yang was blacked out pretty badly, but I wrote it off as just me being biased and upset that my first choice candidate isn't getting as much screen time as I would have liked. After seeing this article with all the clear-cut examples, I don't think that it was just me being biased anymore.
bustadjustme 7y ago
While this does kinda suck, note that Marianne Williamson is excluded from many (if not all) of these same examples, while having announced her candidacy well before (and even making it into the televised debates as well). Politics aside, my guess is this is more than anything else a symptom of not knowing what to do with candidates who don't already hold an elected position.
- AlexCoventry 7y ago
  Marianne Williamson seems like a lovely person, but she's not even close to being a serious candidate. I can't blame people for not being interested in her campaign.
  - minikites 7y ago
    What criteria makes Andrew Yang a serious candidate compared to Marianne Williamson?
    - arthurcolle 7y ago
      I mean, these tweets are just nuts: https://theweek.com/articles/850004/marianne-williamsons-25-wildest-tweets https://theweek.com/articles/850004/marianne-williamsons-25-...
      - pcbro141 7y ago
        President Trump's been tweeting crazy conspiracy nut things for years, like having 'extremely credible sources' saying President Obama is from Africa. Clearly tweeting crazy things doesn't disqualify one from becoming President.
        throwaway9980 7y ago
        But it should. Trump got through a filtering processes that should have prevented him from becoming president. This is not evidence that we should not filter crazy people out of the electoral process. If anything it’s evidence that the filter needs some work.
        IAmEveryone 7y ago
        It does disqualify one from becoming a Democratic President, though.
    - nl 7y ago
      I don't think mass media is justified to some degree basing their coverage off polling until the primaries start. There's always a bunch of candidates who seem credible but can't get enough support, and others who do. Compare Yang, Williamson, Klobuchar and Buttigieg and a bunch of other candidates. Buttigieg started polling well, which justified coverage. Klobuchar didn't get any coverage until her outstanding debate performance and then her polls picked up. The others just never polled high enough for anyone to consider them credibly able to be nominated.
      - Chathamization 7y ago
        Buttigieg's positive coverage started when he was polling below 2% (even when he was polling below 1%). A lot of it had to do with having the right establishment connections[1]. His success in the polls seems to be the result of the media deciding to give him a lot of positive coverage, not vice versa. The same seems to be true of other candidates this cycle (like Klobuchar and Warren). [1] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/29/lis-smith-buttigieg-2020-president-campaign-manager-226756 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/29/lis-smith...
  - animalnewbie 7y ago
    Same was said for trump and yet he managed to cancel tpp, renegotiate NAFTA, and a new trade deal with Chinese. Three of Sanders's biggest talking points. He also made enough political changes so that Sanders went from "open borders are a Koch brothers idea , bad for the nation", to "free healthcare for illegals"
AareyBaba 7y ago
At townhalls in Iowa and NH ordinary citizens would ask questions like "What are your plans to help with student loan debt ?", "Healthcare costs are out of control - what are your plans to fix the system ?", "Will your Freedom Dividend cause inflation ?" etc. On the other hand, MSNBC, ABC would ask questions like "Some people say you make fun of asian sterotypes, what do you have to say to that ? " or "Some white supremacists are coming out in support of your campaign - why do you think that is the case ?", "When you lose, are you going to support whoever is the democratic nominee?" The media bias was frustrating to watch. The best sources for information in this cycle seem to be youtube podcasts like Joe Rogan or the Breakfast club.
- Reedx 7y ago
  > The best sources for information in this cycle seem to be youtube podcasts I'd love to see long form become the dominant format in future cycles. It's so much better, allowing for nuance and depth. It's more real and human. The format of TV interviews and debates are truly terrible. Largely devoid of substance, they reward/incentivize soundbites, shallow quips and drama. Yang wasn't playing that game and not well suited for it (perhaps part of why he was consistently given the least time), whereas he really shined in long form.
  - filoeleven 7y ago
    > The format of TV interviews and debates are truly terrible I would love to see a debate that had no live audience, and took place around a table rather than a row of podiums.
- lowdose 7y ago
  I really liked Tulsi Gabbar at Joe Rogan, she had similar experiences and even Google blocking her advertisement account.
elihu 7y ago
I didn't scroll all the way to the bottom, but I couldn't help but notice that all the examples given seem to be from MSNBC.
IAmEveryone 7y ago
Please... He got into the debates, which is far more than anyone without any party credentials could have had hoped for in previous primaries. The debates were already too large. Far too much money is spent on the primary. And whoever the nominee will be, they won’t have gotten much use out of this time of being one voice among too many. So this primary is arguably not within the typical parameters of optimizing chances in the general. That’s because it’s basically mob rule, now: they are completely paranoid of a repeat of the collective pettiness of Bernie supporters, mistaking the slightest advantage HRC may have gotten out of 40 years of laughing at the unfunny jokes made by the Democratic mayor of East Westnowhere. Yang had enough presence that he could have caught on. Buttigeg shows it’s possible for an unknown, Bernie has shown it’s possible for an outsider, and that guy from Texas has shown it’s possible for a weirdo. Also Trump. It’s perfectly fine to afford the 5%-candidate less time than the 25%-candidates in a debate. And the print media would love to have a coming-from-behind story-arc. He just didn’t catch on.

by Reedx 7y ago

filoleg 7y ago

Thanks for sharing this article. I had a gut feeling that Yang was blacked out pretty badly, but I wrote it off as just me being biased and upset that my first choice candidate isn't getting as much screen time as I would have liked. After seeing this article with all the clear-cut examples, I don't think that it was just me being biased anymore.

bustadjustme 7y ago

While this does kinda suck, note that Marianne Williamson is excluded from many (if not all) of these same examples, while having announced her candidacy well before (and even making it into the televised debates as well). Politics aside, my guess is this is more than anything else a symptom of not knowing what to do with candidates who don't already hold an elected position.

AlexCoventry 7y ago
Marianne Williamson seems like a lovely person, but she's not even close to being a serious candidate. I can't blame people for not being interested in her campaign.
- minikites 7y ago
  What criteria makes Andrew Yang a serious candidate compared to Marianne Williamson?
  - arthurcolle 7y ago
    I mean, these tweets are just nuts: https://theweek.com/articles/850004/marianne-williamsons-25-wildest-tweets https://theweek.com/articles/850004/marianne-williamsons-25-...
    - pcbro141 7y ago
      President Trump's been tweeting crazy conspiracy nut things for years, like having 'extremely credible sources' saying President Obama is from Africa. Clearly tweeting crazy things doesn't disqualify one from becoming President.
      - throwaway9980 7y ago
        But it should. Trump got through a filtering processes that should have prevented him from becoming president. This is not evidence that we should not filter crazy people out of the electoral process. If anything it’s evidence that the filter needs some work.
      - IAmEveryone 7y ago
        It does disqualify one from becoming a Democratic President, though.
  - nl 7y ago
    I don't think mass media is justified to some degree basing their coverage off polling until the primaries start. There's always a bunch of candidates who seem credible but can't get enough support, and others who do. Compare Yang, Williamson, Klobuchar and Buttigieg and a bunch of other candidates. Buttigieg started polling well, which justified coverage. Klobuchar didn't get any coverage until her outstanding debate performance and then her polls picked up. The others just never polled high enough for anyone to consider them credibly able to be nominated.
    - Chathamization 7y ago
      Buttigieg's positive coverage started when he was polling below 2% (even when he was polling below 1%). A lot of it had to do with having the right establishment connections[1]. His success in the polls seems to be the result of the media deciding to give him a lot of positive coverage, not vice versa. The same seems to be true of other candidates this cycle (like Klobuchar and Warren). [1] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/29/lis-smith-buttigieg-2020-president-campaign-manager-226756 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/29/lis-smith...
- animalnewbie 7y ago
  Same was said for trump and yet he managed to cancel tpp, renegotiate NAFTA, and a new trade deal with Chinese. Three of Sanders's biggest talking points. He also made enough political changes so that Sanders went from "open borders are a Koch brothers idea , bad for the nation", to "free healthcare for illegals"

AareyBaba 7y ago

At townhalls in Iowa and NH ordinary citizens would ask questions like "What are your plans to help with student loan debt ?", "Healthcare costs are out of control - what are your plans to fix the system ?", "Will your Freedom Dividend cause inflation ?" etc. On the other hand, MSNBC, ABC would ask questions like "Some people say you make fun of asian sterotypes, what do you have to say to that ? " or "Some white supremacists are coming out in support of your campaign - why do you think that is the case ?", "When you lose, are you going to support whoever is the democratic nominee?" The media bias was frustrating to watch. The best sources for information in this cycle seem to be youtube podcasts like Joe Rogan or the Breakfast club.

Reedx 7y ago
> The best sources for information in this cycle seem to be youtube podcasts I'd love to see long form become the dominant format in future cycles. It's so much better, allowing for nuance and depth. It's more real and human. The format of TV interviews and debates are truly terrible. Largely devoid of substance, they reward/incentivize soundbites, shallow quips and drama. Yang wasn't playing that game and not well suited for it (perhaps part of why he was consistently given the least time), whereas he really shined in long form.
- filoeleven 7y ago
  > The format of TV interviews and debates are truly terrible I would love to see a debate that had no live audience, and took place around a table rather than a row of podiums.
lowdose 7y ago
I really liked Tulsi Gabbar at Joe Rogan, she had similar experiences and even Google blocking her advertisement account.

elihu 7y ago

I didn't scroll all the way to the bottom, but I couldn't help but notice that all the examples given seem to be from MSNBC.

IAmEveryone 7y ago

Please... He got into the debates, which is far more than anyone without any party credentials could have had hoped for in previous primaries. The debates were already too large. Far too much money is spent on the primary. And whoever the nominee will be, they won’t have gotten much use out of this time of being one voice among too many. So this primary is arguably not within the typical parameters of optimizing chances in the general. That’s because it’s basically mob rule, now: they are completely paranoid of a repeat of the collective pettiness of Bernie supporters, mistaking the slightest advantage HRC may have gotten out of 40 years of laughing at the unfunny jokes made by the Democratic mayor of East Westnowhere. Yang had enough presence that he could have caught on. Buttigeg shows it’s possible for an unknown, Bernie has shown it’s possible for an outsider, and that guy from Texas has shown it’s possible for a weirdo. Also Trump. It’s perfectly fine to afford the 5%-candidate less time than the 25%-candidates in a debate. And the print media would love to have a coming-from-behind story-arc. He just didn’t catch on.