On November 27th, a coalition of 23 community non-profit organizations representing
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders wrote an open letter to MSNBC president Phil
Collins about his network’s lack of coverage of 2020 presidential candidate Andrew
Yang, the first Asian-American man to run for president. Over 1000 organizations,
businesses, and individuals expressed their support for the letter.
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders wrote an open letter to MSNBC president Phil
Collins about his network’s lack of coverage of 2020 presidential candidate Andrew
Yang, the first Asian-American man to run for president. Over 1000 organizations,
businesses, and individuals expressed their support for the letter.
The letter raised concerns about MSNBC’s unfair moderation of the debates: waiting
32 minutes to give Andrew Yang a question and giving him only 6.8 minutes of
speaking time. The letter also pointed out MSNBC’s intentional lack of coverage of
Andrew Yang, omitting him from over a dozen graphics while including other candidates
who polled lower. It also mentioned that this lack of coverage plays into the narrative
of those who call liberal media such as MSNBC “fake news.” Lastly, the non-profits
requested MSNBC give all presidential candidates fair coverage and investigate the
root causes of the incidents about Andrew Yang and take corrective actions accordingly.
32 minutes to give Andrew Yang a question and giving him only 6.8 minutes of
speaking time. The letter also pointed out MSNBC’s intentional lack of coverage of
Andrew Yang, omitting him from over a dozen graphics while including other candidates
who polled lower. It also mentioned that this lack of coverage plays into the narrative
of those who call liberal media such as MSNBC “fake news.” Lastly, the non-profits
requested MSNBC give all presidential candidates fair coverage and investigate the
root causes of the incidents about Andrew Yang and take corrective actions accordingly.
In response to the open letter Brian L. Roberts, CEO of the parent company of
MSNBC, Comcast, released this message, dismissing his network of any
guilt or wrongdoing.
MSNBC, Comcast, released this message, dismissing his network of any
guilt or wrongdoing.
As of December 10th, Andrew Yang qualified the 6th Democratic Debate with over
200,000 unique donors and four national polls at 4%.
Questions:
Why do you think MSNBC left Yang out of over a dozen graphics?
What are your thoughts on Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts’ message?
What have you heard about Andrew Yang?
200,000 unique donors and four national polls at 4%.
Questions:
Why do you think MSNBC left Yang out of over a dozen graphics?
What are your thoughts on Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts’ message?
What have you heard about Andrew Yang?
Somehow I'm not surprised you picked this story. Clearly at this point it's not a coincidence or merely benign neglect that Andrew Yang has been marginalized from multiple debates and infographics, despite him doing fairly well. Why this is the case is somewhat confusing to me: he's anti-establishment by virtue of being a wealthy businessman, although his policy viewpoints are not terribly controversial; he doesn't particularly challenge Biden specifically, nor does he cut into any candidates like Bernie that could be seen as bigger stars. Perhaps in his unremarkability as a very solid candidate without any glaring flaws, strange habits, or visible gaffes he also avoids detection. Still, do people really want to hear more from Klobuchar than Yang?
ReplyDeleteI believe Yang is being left out of media coverage due to being an outsider. Though not uninvolved with politics prior to his campaign, Yang is certainly no politician, and this is an appealing factor for many people. However, this means he is largely outside of the circle of journalists and politicians. A comparable candidate in terms of occupation is Bloomberg. However, Bloomberg has been ingrained in this political-journalist community for a long time. Take it a step further, and you have Biden, who has been in the political game for much longer than he probably should be. The media knows Biden, and the people know Biden, simply because of the networking that comes with the occupation of politician. Unfortunately, Andrew Yang just does not fit the image of "president" for the media.
ReplyDeleteWhy does MSNBC leave Yang out? They're racist. There. I said it. I know a lot of people are going to instantly think I'm delusional, but hear me out. If Yang really just doesn't fit the model of what a democratic party president should look like, and that's why they're excluding him, why would they still insist on giving people who are literally polling LOWER than him a spotlight? Don't most presidents, y'know, have support from their party voters? How could someone polling lower seem like a more viable democratic candidate than Yang? Even if they have been more involved in politics, they're still polling lower. So there has to be another reason. Let's take a look at MSNBC's coverage of other Asians in the past then, shall we? Cool! In a 2012 study, it was found that over a 6-month period, Asian-Americans were mentioned 85 times on MSNBC compared to 10 times total on the top 5 biggest Sunday shows. Sounds good, but what's the content like? Let's take a look at one day's show in particular, which contained 70/85 of their mentions. In regards to Asian-Americans, they mentioned that they were unique because they didn't have to be as involved in politics to get their rights as a minority group. Wow. Unlike other shows that just don't mention Asian-Americans, in the spirit of "diversity and inclusion" they mention Asian-Americans just to spread lies about them. Granted, this probably isn't intentional, but what IS intentional is their efforts to dodge responsibility. Case in point, the CEO's statement.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a pretty long rant already, so here's a link for further reading to all interested parties:
http://beyondchron.org/msnbc-does-asian-americans-no-favors/
I respectfully have to disagree with you, Philip. Although in the past MSNBC may have had a history of discrimination, I hesitate to call racism so quickly. As Justin has brought up, its highly likely that the reasoning is that Yang simple doesn't have the clout with many reporters and journalists. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility of some kind of racial bias.
DeleteIf I had to guess why MSNBC is treating Yang so unfairly, I would say it’s because the network is afraid that Yang bears too many similarities to President Trump. Since Trump’s election 3 years ago, nearly every left leaning media company has been pushing the narrative that electing a businessman into office was the worst decision that America has ever made. Now that Yang, another outside entrepreneur, has gained a significant presence in the race for the Democratic nominee, they are doubling down on establishment candidates. Despite Yang’s progressive thinking and unique ideas, MSNBC seems to care more about its own interests more than those of the nation, and it shows in its efforts to suppress his momentum and prevent him from reaching the public. And this controversy isn’t new to politics in the US; it sheds light on the problem with media companies in recent years that has only been getting worse: rather than providing unbiased facts and news coverage, media companies are constantly using their power to influence public opinion, spreading misinformation and contributing to the toxic and divisive political atmosphere plaguing the nation today.
ReplyDeleteI think a reason why news reporters omit Yang is because of how unconventional he, his background with regard to politics and some of his proposed policies are, whereas some of the other candidates that poll lower than him fit better to the standard mold. I don’t pay attention to the nomination race, so a lot of the information stated here is new to me. Based on this information, while I believe racism is a factor to MSNBC omit Yang, I don’t think that is the sole explanation. The other factors I mentioned—his unconventional background and policies with regard to politics—also dissuades MSNBC from covering him. While to a degree I understand why Yang’s background would make MSNBC hesitant to report on him, it is not a good excuse to neglect coverage of I'm complete; as a news sources, it is their duty to give us all the information, even if they may not like what they're reporting.
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I would like to clarify that Yang is not the first Asian-American man to seek president - that would be Hiram Fong, who was also the first Asian-American senator. But on why he seems to have been snubbed, I attribute it to the fact that he is not a member of the establishment. If it is truly racism, then why are there similar accusations of bias from the mainstream media against Sanders and Gabbard? In debates, more establishment candidates such as Klobuchar receive disproportionate amounts of speaking time. Additionally, regardless of the merits of the belief, many seem to believe that Yang is simply not a candidate to be taken seriously. The bias may not be purposeful, but there is certainly a bias against candidates who do not represent the Democratic establishment.
ReplyDeleteI think that MSNBC left Yang out of the graphics because he wasn't so popular in the votes. As of December 10, his national polls were at 4% which is fairly a low number considering there are about 15 democratic candidates who are in the race for presidency in 2020. Although it does seem odd, that even though he wasn't rated so high, other candidates who rated lower were covered by MSNBC. This may be a race issue, but it could also be because low poll numbers. There are other factors that could have left Andrew Yang out of MSNBC's coverage on the Presidential race. I do think that the message that Brian L. Roberts released was a little vague on the apology for leaving Andrew Yang out from the other Democratic Presidential candidates, but I do think it has given Roberts an idea on how to make coverage better and to not do the wrong thing.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the reason why Yang is being left out is because most don't take his candidacy very seriously. This is not very surprising, he has zero political experience, and was essentially unknown before this race, his UBI policy barely in US public discourse, and he is doing badly in the polls making it unlikely that he'll receive the nomination (he barely made the december debate). The New York Times had a list of speaking times for the debate (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/12/us/elections/debate-speaking-time.html), and looking at it speaking times correlate well with how priminant a politician is on the national stage. MSNBC wants good rating for their debates, and views are more likely to stay tuned if someone they know it talking. Should MSNBC pay more attention to smaller candidates? Maybe, but in the end they can't cover everyone, so they'll cover the biggest.
ReplyDeleteGraphics are meant to draw people into watching the debate, and undoubtedly while he does have large enough of a support base to enter the debate, MSNBC simply does not feel like he will bring in much viewership. As others have said, he is not taken the most seriously out of all the candidates and many others simply disregard him from having a substantial impact on the overall flow of the elections. It mostly leads to viewership, while Andrew Yang supports may want him to get more time so he can get more exposure, MSNBC in the end is still a privately owned television company that wants to bring in more viewership and that will be easier if they present the more recognizable and supported candidates.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with others that he may be excluded because he is not taken as seriously as the other candidates, I agree more with Daniel in that Yang is just not the ideal candidate for MSNBC. The network does not like the idea of another business man being president, and Yang does not fit the typical liberal stereotypes of most of the other democratic candidates. Yang does not have any radical plans like Sanders's the Green New Deal or Warren's education plan, and thus MSNBC does not care about featuring him. Yang is also very inexperienced as a politician, and MSNBC wants to draw in viewers by promoting well spoken and established and experienced debtors.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Yang was ignored by MSNBC because most people do not think that he has much of a chance to become president as he has never held a political office and instead comes from a business background. Though it is true that Yang does have a significant support base, his name is still not known to many people compared to the front-runners, such as Biden. In addition to his relative obscurity, many people do not take Yang very seriously as he proposes some very unusual changes. Also, MSNBC is always trying to increase their viewership, so it is reasonable that they would gravitate to covering the other established candidates.
ReplyDeleteI think Yang was excluded by MSNBC because he lacks support and experience, as well as the fact that his candidacy is not taken seriously. Yang doesn’t have much political experience and was simply uninvolved in politics before his candidacy. His poll ratings are low and there are many other democratic candidates who have shown more promise. It is possible it could be due to the fact that Yang is Asian-American, but that is not a known fact. Roberts’ message was definitely vague and did not do a great job at explaining the reasoning behind why Yang was left out of the graphics.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he may not be the Ideal candidate for MSNBC to focus on, the company should still give him an equal amount of time to speak and they should ask him more questions. He should be publicized more so that people can learn who he is and what his goals are. Hes not really as well known as the front-runners an therefore needs the support form outside sources. However, MSNBC is slightly right because they are trying to get views and get more of the primary candidates to make the tight race for president even more competitive. But by looking at a new candidate they can further make the race competitive. It introduces a new factor. I honestly haven't heard much about Andrew Yang which probably ties to the media not publicizing him as much as the rest of the candidates.
ReplyDeleteGiving my opinion on why I think Yang was left out of the graphics will just reinforce everyone's claim... he's not popular enough nor experienced. Although he holds a pretty big following online, the "Yang Gang", he needs to step up on his following if he wants to be considered a heavyweight on the presidential race. Something he does have, however, is a big benefit of the doubt. Yang has proven, with the few times that he spoke at the debates, that he's a pretty bright guy I believe he would do a fine president, and so do many people, but he needs to find a way to finally get his name out there.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of media coverage given to Andrew Yang is a result of one clear reason: the Democratic Party is scared of him. Yang does not have an extensive political background as opposed to the other candidates, and the other democrats are threatened by having an outsider compete with them. The last thing that the democrats want is an outsider to split votes or even win the nomination, similar to how Trump won the Republican race. As a result, Yang has been effectively blackballed by denying him media coverage and attention. Brian L. Roberts and the others at MSNBC know that they can simply pass off any foul play as an honest mistake, so his statement is of little value.
ReplyDelete