NYT Public Editor: Our Bernie Sanders Coverage Has Been ‘Regrettably Dismissive’

 

bernie sandersNew York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan admitted today that people upset with the paper’s coverage of Bernie Sanders‘ campaign do have a point.

Plenty of Sanders supporters and political pundits have argued that Sanders’ campaign should be taken seriously and not be dismissed by the press as a fringe candidate, especially when recent polls have shown him ahead of Hillary Clinton in both New Hampshire and Iowa.

Sullivan wrote today about reader complaints that the Times‘ Sanders coverage has been “derogatory or dismissive, and has been focused on personality, not issues.”

RELATED: Bernie Sanders Coverage Focuses on Shallow Details — Much to His Chagrin

And she actually agrees with some of the criticism:

The Times has not ignored Mr. Sanders’ campaign by any means but it also hasn’t always taken it very seriously. The tone of some stories does seem regrettably dismissive, even mocking at times. Some of it is focused on the candidate’s age, appearance and style rather than what he has to say.

Sanders has been very dismissive of the media, and in one example Sullivan cites, the Democratic candidate got snippy in a New York Times Magazine profile when asked about his hair.

[image via Albert H. Teich/Shutterstock]

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Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac