One story, two versions: Media bias in NYC mayoral race coverage

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00:00We've got elections coming up next week, and these news cycles are a time when subtle patterns will

00:06emerge from media outlets that can give you a better idea of where their partisan allegiances

00:11lie. That is, if you know what you're looking for. Today, we're diving into how news outlets decide

00:17which stories are newsworthy and how those choices to cover something or not reveal media bias.

00:24Sometimes the coverage starts to sound less like journalism and more like a campaign ad.

00:30Welcome back to Bias Breakdown. Let's revisit the Big Apple, the New York City mayoral race that's

00:38been making national headlines. It's down to three candidates, Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani,

00:45Republican Curtis Lewa, and Andrew Cuomo running as an independent. But much of the media attention

00:51has focused on the frontrunner Mamdani. We've covered the narratives in this race before,

00:56examining how left and right outlets have taken opposing angles on his campaign.

01:02Zoran Mamdani ran an exceptional, inspiring, extraordinary campaign, and he's galvanized

01:09the city. This guy is, frankly, he's trash on a lot of levels. And most frightening, in my opinion,

01:14is the anti-Semitism. While that's some of the left-right narrative noise on cable television,

01:19today we're diving into the headlines and story framing of the race. The media story's selection

01:26has been strategic, and the patterns you're about to see make that clear. Let's look at these three

01:32headlines, all from right-leaning outlets. Each one highlights and criticizes Mamdani's connections

01:39with a controversial figure. The Washington Examiner wrote,

01:42Mamdani extravagantly praised the imam at the mosque, Siraj Wahaj. They call it a warm connection

01:49before pointing out that Wahaj had been an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade

01:57Center bombing. He also refused to condemn Osama bin Laden, concluding that Wahaj has a notable

02:04relationship to terrorism. This is someone Mamdani received an endorsement from. The New York Post

02:11quoted Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who said Mamdani's standing with this imam should be

02:17disqualifying, along with independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, who also condemned his opponent,

02:23and Vice President J.D. Vance, who called on Democrats to condemn Mamdani's pose with Wahaj.

02:30In Fox News' write-up, they similarly include five voices criticizing Mamdani for the picture,

02:36and included it during evening primetime coverage on the network.

02:41The saying, show me who your friends are, I'll tell you who you are, that is applicable here.

02:46Zoran Mandani has palled around with socialists, with communists, now this radical extremist imam.

02:53This controversy was largely covered on only the right side of the media spectrum.

02:58We didn't find any stories on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, or NBC. But that said, CBS News did have a link,

03:07and the New York Times published a story. But the framing reads very differently.

03:13On CBS's website, a search for the story came back with this headline,

03:18Fresh Attack Launched on Mayoral Race Frontrunner Zoran Mamdani.

03:23The New York Times used similar language, reporting that Cuomo is doubling down on a line of attack

03:30by linking Mamdani to Wahaj. The Times also gave more detail into the New York Post's

03:36characterization of Wahaj as an unindicted co-conspirator, noting he was never charged in

03:42the case and linked to the outlet's previous coverage showing that the list Mr. Wahaj appeared on

03:48was criticized by former terrorism prosecutors as being overly broad. In its article, the Times

03:55includes voices critical of Cuomo's criticism. You can see how this same election story is framed

04:02differently, with opposing takeaways depending on which article you read. Multiple forms of media

04:09bias are at play here. We'll start with bias by story choice, as defined by media watchdog all sides.

04:16Right-leaning outlets highlighted the Mamdani-Wahaj story heavily, framing it as a political scandal.

04:23Left-leaning outlets, on the other hand, either didn't cover it or framed it as a political attack,

04:29downplaying the elements the right saw as newsworthy. This is a clear example of how story choice

04:36shapes public perception through what gets covered, what gets emphasized, and what gets left out.

04:43The differences in political opinion between outlets created unbalanced coverage, making it easy to

04:50unmask how each news outlet viewed the story. Since there was a broad pattern of news outlets on the

04:57left not covering the story at all, that's also biased by story omission. Because for people who

05:03primarily consume CNN, NBC, or ABC News, the controversy never even happened. The absence of stories creates

05:12its own kind of public perception distortion. The American media landscape is filled with daily

05:18misses by both sides of the political lean. Straight Arrow News compiles them for you to see at

05:24san.com. Back to it, news outlets on the right that chose to give the matter attention often omitted

05:31alternate viewpoints to the story. The New York Post and Fox News stacked voices condemning Mamdani.

05:38That imbalance of perspective also fits this form of media bias.

05:44The same imam met with Mayor Bloomberg, met with Mayor de Blasio, campaigned alongside Eric Adams,

05:50and the only time it became an issue of national attention was when I met with him.

05:55And even after Mamdani spoke out to explain his interactions with Wahaj, Fox News and the Washington

06:02Examiner didn't follow up to cover his defense. The New York Post, however, did publish a follow-up.

06:09I'm not saying one side of the media is right or wrong in how they covered the story. You're welcome to

06:14come to that conclusion on your own, but that's not my point. When the same story is covered very

06:20differently across left and right outlets, that pattern reveals a clear divide and bias in media

06:28coverage. These next examples we're going to run through more quickly with less specific details to

06:34each story, but just pointing out the same sort of media bias by story choices and framing.

06:41These articles, again from right-leaning sources, focus on remarks by New York Congresswoman Elise

06:48Stefanik, who called Mamdani a jihadist and warned of a jihad coming. Left-leaning outlets, on the other hand,

06:56described GOP criticisms, including Stefanik's remarks as attacks against Mamdani and labeled

07:03them Islamophobic. The right-leaning coverage focused on amplifying individual voices criticizing

07:10Mamdani, giving those perspectives more weight in the headlines. Left-leaning outlets, in contrast,

07:17highlighted voices calling those criticisms racist or Islamophobic, making that perspective

07:23more prominent. Recent controversies involving both Mamdani and Cuomo were covered differently

07:30across partisan outlets. For example, Cuomo faced scrutiny on the left after a radio show host claimed

07:36Mamdani would cheer on a terror attack on the U.S., to which Cuomo responded, that's another problem.

07:44God forbid another 9-11. Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?

07:50Yeah, I could. He'd be cheering.

07:54It's another problem.

07:56This controversy received heavy coverage on the left side of the media spectrum. And while some

08:02right-leaning media did cover the Cuomo controversy, it read a lot differently. Fox News highlights Cuomo's

08:09response to the criticism, who ripped Mamdani's victim narrative, while the New York Post downplayed

08:16the radio incident, framing it as Cuomo being criticized by Dems for laughing at the host's

08:22joke. The same story, but told in very different ways. Coverage was also uneven, as other right-leaning

08:29outlets like the Washington Examiner, the Daily Wire, and Breitbart omitted the controversy and didn't

08:35touch it at all. And finally, a speech by Mamdani was described by left-leaning outlets as emotional,

08:42with focus on his condemnation of what he characterized as Islamophobic attacks.

08:48But right-leaning outlets focused on criticism of the speech from the vice president, focusing on a

08:54portion of Mamdani's remarks that his Muslim aunt did not feel safe riding the subway after 9-11.

09:01I want to speak to the memory of my aunt,

09:05who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

09:15Same speech, same story, totally different takeaways in news coverage from left and right outlets.

09:23If all the headlines on one side of the political media are negative toward a candidate,

09:28and the headlines on the other side largely defend that same candidate, that's a sign news outlets

09:34are choosing and framing stories based on their own political leanings and the political views of

09:41their audience. If you lean right, right-leaning news reinforces your beliefs. If you lean left,

09:48left-leaning news does the same thing. And you're entitled to your own political opinions,

09:53and I get it. It's easier and sometimes more fun to stick to the side that you agree with.

09:59But I challenge you to see the bias in how both sides select and frame their stories.

10:06Today, we highlighted just a few examples of just one race, but maybe it makes you think about other

10:13races too, in Virginia, in New Jersey, this election cycle, and the next, and how the partisan news

10:21knows exactly what they're doing. Carefully choosing what stories to tell and how to frame them in

10:28order to fuel one base. And that's your bias breakdown. Now, usually during the wrap right

10:35here, I tell you where to find us and how to download the show, but you know the drill,

10:40and I'll be in the comments with you on YouTube and Spotify. Today, in my last few minutes with you,

10:46I want to talk about something a little more personal. I want you to get to know me a little

10:51bit better because I hope that you'll come back here each week to be with me. I've mentioned my

10:56grandpa, who I call Papa, in several episodes of Bias Breakdown, because he really taught me so much.

11:03And I feel like I am who I am because of him. He valued knowledge like nobody else that I know.

11:10He was a high school dropout, self-taught, and allowed curiosity to build his wealth of knowledge.

11:19I have one example that I think connects to this episode. Papa had a very strong faith. He knew what

11:26he believed, but he would go to churches of other faiths to learn. Not to challenge them or his own

11:33beliefs, but he would put himself in the pews of other churches simply to learn and to understand

11:40others. He valued perspectives and people in general. We talk a lot about politics in this

11:47podcast. I know that that can rile people up. I get it. But I want to be a resource for you to see

11:54other perspectives. Not to challenge your beliefs, but to help you understand why others may think

12:01differently. Papa passed away one year ago tomorrow. But by getting to know me, I'm hoping

12:08that you'll get to know a little piece of him too. Thank you so much for listening to me and giving me

12:16the time of day. And thank you to those of you who are helping to build up our bias breakdown community

12:21in the comments on YouTube. And I look very forward to jumping in there later on to respond to some of

12:27you all. Big thank you to Ian and Ali for putting the graphics and this video together. And I will see

12:34you next time.

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