Letters to the Editor: Thousands were at a Bernie Sanders rally in Venice. Where was the L.A. Times?

To the editor: It was with considerable irony that I read and was pleased by your front-page article, “No #Bernieblackout here: Sanders rides a surge of alternative media.”

Yes, a growing number of voters is seeking out alternative media on the left, and the Los Angeles Times’ lack of coverage of the Dec. 21 rally in Venice serves as a salient example of why this trend has no sign of abating.

More than 10,000 people showed up to an iconic Los Angeles location to hear a top contender for president, along with the international political and media phenomenon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and there’s no article about it in our local newspaper? While the L.A. Times is to be commended for recognizing the changes in political media, it must also be brought to task for the disregard it has shown Sanders’ candidacy.

Fred Siegel, Marina del Rey

..

To the editor: I wish to express my concern about the political bias shown by the L.A. Times in its coverage of leading presidential candidates, and the disrespect for the voters of Los Angeles that this demonstrates.

Sanders’ rally here on Dec. 21. was attended by a diverse and passionate crowd of more than 14,000 people, yet your paper did not consider it worth covering. On Sunday, there was instead a news column about former Vice President Joe Biden’s “electability.”

The reality is that Sanders has received more than 300 endorsements from California leaders in academia, government and local communities. “Tío Bernie” is the leading candidate among the state’s Latinos and among the youth in California and the rest of the country.

In its failure to fairly cover the Democratic race, the outcome of which will decide the fate of both our democracy and our planet, the L.A. Times is abdicating its responsibility as one of the nation’s leading newspapers.
.

Nuna Teal, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: If Sanders and his supporters had not demonized the Democratic Party establishment in 2016 and divided the majority of voters that had twice elected Barack Obama as president, we might not now be suffering an impeached and reckless president.

What is so shocking is that despite the good intentions of their policies, Sanders and his supporters are doing it again. The vulnerable President Trump and his Republican loyalists are silently applauding Sanders’ attack on the liberal establishment candidates who support pragmatic approaches to reversing this president’s policies.

Alan Segal, San Diego