CNN Fails to Disclose Democratic Party Ties of Questioners at Bernie Sanders Town Hall

Caleb EcarmaFeb 26th, 2019, 4:45 pm
 

CNN failed to disclose the political connections of audience members who questioned 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during his town hall on the network last night, per a report from Paste Magazine.

The leftist outlet found that CNN described Baltimore County Democratic Party Chair Tara Ebersole as a “former biology professor,” Charles County Democratic Central Committee Chair Abena McAllister as “an active Democrat,” a Public Policy intern at DC Cassidy and Associates — a large lobbying firm — as an “American University student,” and an intern at the Katz Watson Group fundraising and consulting firm as a “George Washington student.”

Sanders has been harshly criticized by leading Democrats for supposedly trying to spoil the party’s primary election, given his label as an independent and perception as an outsider.

CNN did not immediately respond to Mediaite’s request for comment on their failure to disclose the professional ties of these audience members.

UPDATE 02/27: A CNN spokesperson responded to Mediaite with a statement: “Though we said at the beginning of the Town Hall that the audience was made up of Democrats and Independents, we should have more fully identified any political affiliations.”

The network’s decision was initially found by the Twitter account @respecteconomy:

Numerous Twitter users took issue with CNN’s chyron decisions last night, with some accusing the network of “stack[ing] the audience” against the independent senator:

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Caleb Ecarma

Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. Email him here: caleb@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter here: @calebecarma