Media bias in the Democratic primary

There are two types of bias at play in the media, and both contribute to unfairness: Bias in tone, and bias in volume. For example, an op-ed attacking Beto O’Rourke’s use of a Latino nickname is biased in tone ; an infographic of candidate fundraising including all the top fundraisers except for Andrew Yang is an example of bias in volume .

Both types of bias were very visible in 2016 , but it’s much easier to establish bias in volume than bias in tone, so I will be concentrating on bias in volume, mainly, using the data available from FiveThirtyEight . Unless otherwise noted, average or aggregate poll numbers are generated as in this article . There are significant differences in the tone of coverage of different candidates even within “blue” media outlets generally friendly to Democrats, and my current impression is that blue media outlets favor less electable candidates, particularly Elizabeth Warren .

I will present several measures of media bias, most based on comparing polling numbers to media coverage.

Which candidates have gotten more media coverage and why?

Media bias in volume is both widespread and unfair. However, the equal time rule was gutted a long time ago, and candidates receive wildly different amounts of coverage. The DNC has tried to give a few public nods to the idea of treating candidates who are on the debate stage as being on equal footing with one another, but candidates are not receiving equal time even on the debate stage.