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1. Ideally, the purpose of the media in an election cycle is to vet and elevate name recognition of the candidates. They also, of course, control the narrative that decides what pundits talk about, how candidate messages are received, and how the electorate is informed.
2. Whether they admit it or not, I think much of the media recognizes how they failed in the 2016 election. But, as we enter into the 2020 cycle, they are already starting to become enslaved by their own narratives. Here's some feedback on the framing we're seeing so far.
3. First and foremost, we have a lot of fantastic female candidates. Just cover them. Stop the weird meta-analysis of pointing out that women aren't getting as much coverage as men and just cover them. As the media you are in control of that.
4. In a similar vein, stop the "B-boy" talk. Unusual though it may be, names starting with B are not enough to constitute a group. And, yes, I know they're all white males, but if that's the criteria, then it's a much larger group of candidates.
5. Biden (unofficially) and Sanders are the front-runners at this stage. They are the established candidates and they have the name recognition. They are also the "old white guys". But, the media isn't even covering them the same.
6. All this coverage on Biden's overly familiar touchiness highlights the lack of vetting on the other established front-runner. It's not that stories shouldn't be covered, but not at the cost of doing the job the public expects from the media.
7. This is a very crowded field. Frankly, it's a field that's going to need to thin out sooner rather than later. As I said in the beginning of this thread - the job of the media is to elevate recognition and vet the candidates - and this is essential to the primary process.
8. At this point, the fear about 2020 that keeps me up at night is this - Sanders may be able to win the primary, but not the general and Biden can win the general, but not necessarily the primary. Elevate all the candidates and don't poison the well with media framing.
