Bernie Sanders vs Bloomberg and the corporate media machine

On The Listening Post this week: Unelectable or frontrunner? Why is Bernie Sanders getting such a tough ride from US corporate media? Plus, the satirists mocking Angola’s elite.

Sanders vs Bloomberg and the corporate media machine

We’re in the early days of the US election season and the battle for the right to take on Donald Trump currently looks like a two-horse race.

On the progressive side of the Democratic Party, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. To his right, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In the coverage of the two candidates – whose politics are poles apart – the US news media are showing their corporate bias. Sanders is a democratic socialist, Bloomberg is the 9th-richest person in the world.

Sanders relies on a huge grassroots following and record-breaking fundraising; Bloomberg is already out of pocket to the tune of $350m on an advertising blitz.

Despite leading the pack as far as opinion polls are concerned, Bernie Sanders is being cast as unelectable in much of the media coverage.

Months ahead of the November election, for a lot of voters, the US news media is already an election issue.

Contributors:

Anoa Changa – Host of The Way with Anoa

Shane Ryan – Politics editor, Paste Magazine

Sophia McClennen – Professor, Penn State University

John Nichols – National affairs correspondent, The Nation

On our radar:

Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Johanna Hoes about the media tug-of-war between the US and China, with Beijing expelling three Wall Street Journal reporters and Washington ramping up disclosure requirements for Chinese news outlets on American soil.

The funny side of corruption: A masterclass in Angolan satire

Former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos repressed his political opponents and the news media, leaving very little room for dissent.

His successor, Joao Lourenco, has promised a new era of media freedom and celebrated the work of journalists who were jailed under dos Santos. In this budding climate of tolerance, one particular form of dissent is flourishing: satire.

Ever since the colonial era, Angolans have used humour to make some serious points about the powers that be.

The Listening Post spoke to two of the country’s most accomplished satirists – one a comedian, the other a cartoonist – about how their crafts enable them to critique Angola’s political class.

Contributors:

Tiago Costa – Comedian and host, ‘Sopa Saber’

Sergio Picarra – Cartoonist and creator, ‘Mankiko’