Bernie Sanders Is Receiving 7 Times As Much Positive Russian Media Coverage As Joe Biden

[TomCADem]

The analysis mainly focuses on official Russian news outlets like Sputnik and RT. This does not include Russian efforts to manipulate social media, including alleged supporters or concerns trolls.

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-russian-media-coverage-1490862

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders has received the most positive coverage of any contender from Russian state-backed new agencies, according to new research from a foreign policy think tank.

Russia is believed to be trying to boost Sanders' primary campaign while also helping President Donald Trump. New analysis from the Foreign Policy Research Institute revealed that Sanders received the most positive coverage of any candidate from Russia's Sputnik and RT news services.

Clint Watts, an FPRI fellow, told NPR Thursday that pro-Sanders Russian coverage has "really come on strong just in the last 30 to 45 days" and shows "very similar narratives that we saw in 2016 about Sanders."

The FPRI analysis took 3,897 stories and 5,082 mentions on Sputnik and RT from January 1, 2019 to March 2, 2020. It found that former Vice President Joe Biden was the most mentioned candidate (812 times), significantly ahead of Sanders (455 mentions). But 21 percent of Sanders' mentions were positive, compared to only 3 percent for Biden; seven times more positive mentions. Sixteen percent of Sanders' mentions were negative compared to 40 percent for the former vice president.

[TwilightZone]

1. RT was a go-to source for many on DU in 2016.

It was also the basis for about half of what Salon wrote.

Doesn't seem quite so popular this time around.

[Thekaspervote]

3. You are so right. Voters are on to bernie's tired old rhetoric

[NurseJackie]

5. We're on to the game now...

... the smartest of us that is.

[TwilightZone]

8. We were on to the game then, too.

Well, not all of us. Basically the same group.

[TomCADem]

10. It Will Be A Little More Sophisticated.

Before RT would directly put former MSNBC Contributor Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann on the payroll, and directly create troll accounts and sock puppets to attack Hillary Clinton as alleged Bernie supporters. Now, you might have posts that either try to stoke ethnic and racial divisions, or folks who even purport to be Biden supporters who repeatedly concern troll. So, it is a good thing to understand what Russia is overtly saying to get an understanding of what they are also saying behind the scenes.

[William769]

7. Exactly!

[IluvPitties]

2. Anyone surprised?

[NurseJackie]

4. Surprise surprise surprise... Gooooolllyyy!

[George II]

6. indeed.....

[Cha]

9. Give it up russia.. BS lost.

[Gothmog]

11. Putin is supporting sanders