The New York Times illustrated its roundtable feature on whether Bernie Sanders had been underestimated with a photo of a Bernie Sanders puppet. (photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)
FAIR contributing analyst Adam Johnson was invited to write a piece for the New York Times‘ “Room for Debate” feature–on the topic “Has Sanders Not Been Taken Seriously Enough?” Adam’s contribution was “Bernie Sanders Had to Overcome Media Consensus Around Hillary Clinton” (3/14/16), which argued, in part, that Clinton’s
“frontrunner” status prejudices both viewer and pundit alike when news media presents delegate totals, often including the unearned “super delegates,” despite the fact that their declared preferences are not binding, and could only reverse the will of the voters at the risk of throwing the election. This makes it appear as if Clinton’s lead is more insuperable than it actually is — a vestige of the invisible primary that occurred months before anyone voted.
