TIME’s Rejection of Bernie Sanders Should Prompt Outrage

[Playinghardball]

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won TIME’s open poll for 2015 Person of the Year by a two-to-one margin, earning over 10 percent of the popular vote. His closest competitor, Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, won 5.2 percent of votes cast. Fellow 2016 presidential candidates fared poorly in comparison, with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump leading the rest of the presidential pack at a meager 1.8 percent. Sanders’ Democratic rival, frontrunner Hillary Clinton, appealed to only 1.4 percent of voters.

Yet, when TIME’s editors announced their eight finalists for 2015’s Person of the Year, Donald Trump was among them…but Bernie Sanders was not. That’s right: The two candidates who received the most votes, by wide margins, were not included. I figured that TIME would not name Bernie Sanders as Person of the Year due to his current status as a presidential candidate, but then they named Republican candidate Donald Trump as a finalist. I am flabbergasted – how can TIME name real estate scion Donald Trump as a Person of the Year finalist, but not U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders?

This turn of events should outrage anyone with a conscience and sense of fairness. For Sanders to not even make the list of eight finalists, after winning the public poll by a two-to-one margin over his nearest competitor, is flat-out ridiculous. Is Sanders and his story not sufficiently newsworthy?

The lone independent in the U.S. Senate, having clawed his way from left-wing obscurity in the 1970s all the way to being the most popular U.S. Senator, with hard-won stops as city mayor and U.S. Representative along the way, Bernie Sanders has an amazing backstory. The fact that he has a clean record and espouses the same values he did in the ’70s, all while earning an unrivaled reputation for integrity, only adds to his appeal. His ability to draw record-setting crowds while being maligned by the mainstream media as an outsider is simply icing on the cake.

America is feeling the Bern, but the existing power structure seems determined to minimize his clout and force him to the sidelines. Nowhere is this as blatantly apparent as today’s disgraceful snub by TIME. Why did they deny Bernie Sanders the title of 2015 Person of the Year, or even a spot among the eight finalists?

At a time like this, it is hard to ignore the fact that TIME’s parent company, Time Warner, is a major donor to Bernie Sanders rival Hillary Clinton. Did TIME snub Bernie Sanders in order to boost his primary election competitor? Since it would be too blatant to name Hillary Clinton as a finalist, due to her meager ranking in the poll, the next best thing would be to remove her Democratic rival from contention as well. Ignoring Bernie Sanders’ overwhelming popularity hands a tacit victory to Clinton.

This is not right. Progressives, populists, liberals, independents, and even conservatives must condemn this attempt to subvert democratic values and insist that Bernie Sanders be named TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year. His story is amazing and there is no valid reason why he could not be considered the most prominent newsmaker of 2015. He has single-handedly made liberal economic reform a mainstream topic, bringing it back to the public forefront after decades of obscurity…and all without the support of the power structure.

http://thebernreport.com/times-rejection-of-bernie-sanders-should-be-prompt-outrage/

Fuck Time's Person of the Year

[cascadiance]

1. It is JUST LIKE them taking down poll pages after the debate when they showed Bernie winning...

... and directing people instead to pundit opinions that they controlled instead.

This is all about a corporate media manipulation of this election.

[leftcoastmountains]

2. If you are not a US citizen contact Time and let them know

what you think about Bernie. They think he doesn't have global impact.

[99th_Monkey]

3. But Trump does have "global impact"? -nt-

[bvf]

5. Trump is the only candidate I've heard

getting regular mention on BBC News. I may have missed mention of any others, but Trump's increasingly outrageous and sickening statements are newsworthy in a way that others are not.

[leftcoastmountains]

11. That's what Ben Goldberger says

the nation editor at Time Magazine.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. I agree, but I have to say that the only time

I ever read their shitty magazine is when I'm at the doctor's office. It might be something to read for some people while they're sitting on the toilet, but the pages wouldn't feel very nice when they're done. It's pretty useless.

[Matariki]

6. "Donald Trump was among them"

I think I'm gonna be ill

[Gore1FL]

8. Time Person of the Year isn't an award for greatness.

Hitler and Khomeini received that honor, too.

[Matariki]

9. Why do they even bother with their stupid poll if they're just going to ignore it.

Insulting.

[Gore1FL]

10. That I can neither answer nor defend. n/t

[frylock]

16. To generate hits and ad revenue..

I was duped into participating as well, but will no longer bother if the online polling has no effect on who is selected as a finalist.

[Ferd Berfel]

7. What do you expect from a Mag that has Hitler on the Coverr?

Trump will fit nicely next to Hitler

Trump is on and Bernie is off. What the fuck was the point of a open poll? Another corporate scam.


TIME is on "ignore" *PERM

Seig Heil Baby

Apr. 13, 1936

[billhicks76]

12. BOYCOTT TIME...They Are Part Of The Problem

The system is RIGGED and has been for a long time.

[rurallib]

21. hard to boycott when I quit reading it in the 70s

[billhicks76]

24. Time=Warner=CNN

[rurallib]

25. haven't turned CNN on in decades - after ted Turner sold them

but I do watch reruns of Big Bang on TBS

[gordyfl]

30. Bernie Pokes Fun at CNN

I remember watching the Democratic Forum held in SC.

MSNBC moderator Rachel Maddow concluded the first part of their interview segment with some light-hearted questions, beginning with what dream job Bernie would want if he wasn’t a politician.


“Um, president of CNN,” Sanders said to laughter from the audience. Gesturing for emphasis, he added, “And if I was president of CNN, the way media deals with politics would radically change.”

[Playinghardball]

13. I'd rather see Bernie receive the Nobel Peace Prize...

Donald will never get that award and neither will Mrs. Wall Street..

[americannightmare]

14. People still read TIME?

News to me...

[Live and Learn]

15. To hell with Time. More importantly, he made the cover of the Rolling Stone.

?1447888863

[Duval]

18. And I'll bet more people read Rolling Stone! I have

never subscribed to Time because I would read it in a Dr.'s office and it appeared to lean right. Time Mag can go do you- know- what with an ostrich!!

[Live and Learn]

19. Exactly. nt

[joanbarnes]

17. I ALREADY boycott them. They made a self-fulfilling action proving their own irrelevance today.

[AgingAmerican]

20. Time Warner is one of Hillary's biggest contributors

Corporate corruption

[Tab]

22. Person of the year has always been controversial

TIME Person of the Year is given to the person/institution that most influenced events during the year, and I would have to say that Trump has made far more of an impact, negative though it might be.

(I should know - I was picked as TIME's Person of the Year for 2006)

[Babel_17]

27. lol, you got me to google you

[Recursion]

28. Small world! I was too! (nt)

[gordyfl]

29. Good One

You got me there. LOL.

[NCjack]

23. I don't trust any number, statement, or photo that Time publishes. Reading it for free is

just a waste of time I could better spend inspecting the insides of my eyelids.

[Babel_17]

26. I guess it would have been smarter to not include Trump

Arguably Sanders, and Clinton as well, have at least as compelling a reason to be on the cover. Trump has had an amazing ride but what's really there? There's not much substance to his oddball campaign, he mostly just offends. If he looked very likely to be the GOP nominee then he'd be less of an odd choice. But he's not even close to that.

I don't see much malign intent here*, it looks more like TIME is consistent in its pushing of click bait.

*Though I don't totally discount underlings being sensitive to the sensibilities of the corporation they work for. Going with Sanders might look like TIME was actually trying to say something.

[sabrina 1]

38. Bernie was chosen by the PEOPLE in Time's own poll. Neither Trump nor Hillary were.

To exclude the choice of the people in their own poll only shows how corrupted our entire system is.

CNN deleted THEIR post Debate poll which showed Bernie winning in a landslide.

Corporate Media = Propaganda Machine of the Oligarchs who have bought our entire system including the people's airwaves.

Boycotts work. Don't consume their drivel. Starve the beast!

[Babel_17]

41. I agree, it's shoddy work choosing Trump over Sanders

That's what they've sunk to.

[GoneFishin]

31. Corporatist ideas won't fly on their own. They need to be bouyed by corporate pals. On a

level playing field Bernie's policy positions would have left Hillary in the dust earlier. The fact that Bernie continues to advance in the face of cheating and media bias is testament to the merits and popularity of Bernie's policy positions.

[dreamnightwind]

35. +1

They have many ways to catapult the propagada.

[cui bono]

32. There is NO WAY Trump should be a finalist.

He's a clown.

.

[Duckfan]

33. Endorsing a racist as person of the year?

That's a good way to be remembered as a publication of white racists. I'm sure the editors won't mind.

[merrily]

34. I'm not outraged. In January, ask someone on the street who the TIME person of 2015 was and why.

However, running a campaign without anonymous donors, dark money, etc. is a sea change in politics, whether the TIMES panel wants to recognize it or not.

BTW, I don't have a bad memory and the only thing I remember about the TIME person of the year is that TIME once chose Hitler.

[Triana]

36. I agree but was mocked and snarked at to Hell & Back here on DU for

saying so. I think their outright rejection of his popularity w/ the masses is indicative of how massive media corruption is keeping us from supporting and electing leaders who truly represent the majority of citizens in the US - instead we end up with corporate pimps and shills THEY want in office, and we get screwed.

It's not a problem? It's a HUGE problem.

Unfortunately, even much of DU is brainwashed by media propaganda and anyone mentioning such obvious corruption gets pelleted with snark and ridicule here.

[sabrina 1]

37. Boycotts work. To put Trump in there just shows what a scam the whole system is. He is just

in this race to DISTRACT. He's a Reality TV star, nothing more and the media's job is to make sure he gets lots of coverage so people won't talk about ISSUES

We play the game when we even mention his name.

Boycott Time for ignoring the PEOPLE'S CHOICE.

Don't feed the monster!

[TBF]

39. And they pick Merkel instead - good lord. nt

[SandersDem]

40. So just my two cents

Even though Bernie was leading in the poll for Time Person of the Year (and I cast my vote for him too), I truly did not expect them to put him back on the cover so close to having just been on the cover. That being said, when I heard it might have been the Racist, I was prepared to post about the 'Death of Time' which may happen anyway.

I am no huge Merkel fan by any means and I think her frugal economic policies have hurt the EU, but hell I am no expert. That being said, I do think her actions to welcome Syrian refugees is highly commendable. Deserving of Time's person of the Year? Honestly, isn't that like the Reader's Digest (do they still exist) having any relevance to anybody under 55.

I'll bet you young whipper snappers don't even have the Time app on yer phones. Amazeballs. (only using Amazeballs because it got me a rec about a month ago, so yeah, Merkel and not Chump, Amazeballs.)