U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is criticizing the major news networks' lack of coverage of big money in politics, saying he is “disappointed, but not surprised ... that the networks barely covered the issue.”

Sanders' press release comes after a recent Media Matters study found that the subject of campaign finance reform was hardly reported on by either the major networks' evening news programs (ABC's World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC's Nightly News) or their Sunday talk shows (ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and NBC's Meet the Press). These news programs also largely overlooked the Senate's proposed (and ultimately filibustered) constitutional amendment that would have restored Congress' ability to regulate political spending after the conservative justices of the Supreme Court gutted bipartisan campaign finance law in 2010's Citizens United v. FEC and this year's McCutcheon v. FEC.

Although most of the networks seldom covered the issue, PBS NewsHour, on the other hand, set the standard and broadcast numerous in-depth segments on campaign finance reform, big money in politics, and the Supreme Court decisions that have invited billions of dollars to flow into the federal election system. In fact, PBS NewsHour offered more campaign finance coverage than the other networks combined.

In response to these findings, Sanders called on the media to dedicate more coverage to what he called “the single most important issue facing our country today” and suggested that the networks' insufficient coverage has contributed to the decline of Americans' confidence in the media:

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the study's finding that the major networks barely covered the issue of money in politics,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. “There is a reason why confidence in the American media is declining,” he added. “More and more people say the media is not paying attention to the issues of real importance to the American people. This study confirms that.” The study found that each network devoted less than single minute per month to talking about campaign finance reform. “To my mind,” Sanders said, “the single most important issue facing our country today is that, as a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, we are allowing billionaires to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to elect candidates who will represent the wealthy and powerful rather than the needs of ordinary Americans. This is an issue of enormous consequence.” Sanders cited a recent Gallup poll that found Americans' faith in television news and newspapers is at or tied with record lows. The findings continued a decades-long decline in the share of Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers or TV news.

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