Bernie Sanders: To our establishment friends in the Democratic Party

[lapucelle]

81. Did you work that race? I did. Actually, it was the press was asleep at the wheel.

Bob Zimmerman's campaign released their oppo report to the press raising concerns about George Santos's resume the day after the primary. The questions were raised time and time again. The press was so focused on Lee Zeldin's run for governor that the story never broke through.

A small North Shore Republican newspaper reported the story at length and actually endorsed the Democratic candidate in the race, but larger newspapers never picked up their story until after Santos was elected.

Small, local paper uncovered and reported George Santos scandal before November election

A watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing newly sworn-in Rep. George Santos of illegally using campaign funds and masking the source of those funds. The North Shore Leader, a small paper on Long Island, broke the scandal before the November election. By the time other outlets picked it up, Santos had been elected. Grant Lally joined Geoff Bennett to discuss.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/small-local-paper-uncovered-and-reported-george-santos-scandal-before-november-election

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A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal but no one paid attention

Months before the New York Times published a December article suggesting Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) had fabricated much of his résumé and biography, a tiny publication on Long Island was ringing alarm bells about its local candidate.

The North Shore Leader wrote in September, when few others were covering Santos, about his “inexplicable rise” in reported net worth, from essentially nothing in 2020 to as much as $11 million two years later. The story noted other oddities about the self-described gay Trump supporter with Jewish heritage, who would go on to flip New York’s 3rd Congressional District from blue to red, and is now under investigation by authorities for misrepresenting his background to voters.

It was the stuff national headlines are supposed to be built on: A hyperlocal outlet like the Leader does the legwork, regional papers verify and amplify the story, and before long an emerging political scandal is being broadcast coast to coast. But that system, which has atrophied for decades amid the destruction of news economies, appears to have failed completely this time.

Despite a well-heeled and well-connected readership — the Leader’s publisher says it counts among its subscribers Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters and several senior people at Newsday, a once-mighty Long Island-based tabloid that has won 19 Pulitzers — no one followed its story before Election Day.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/29/north-shore-leader-santos-scoop/

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I worked that race. I was there.

The media had the oppo, concerns were raised time and time again by both the Zimmerman campaign and a local Republican newspaper (which even wound up endorsing the Democrat) but the regional (Newsday and local TV news outlets) and the national press couldn't be bothered.

When the NYT finally started reporting the story after the election, they wanted kudos, as if they had broken the story. The time to report it was before the election. Sound familiar?

I know what happened. I was on the ground for that election. Were you?