Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
What Do Devin Nunes and Bernie Sanders Have in Common?
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 6 years ago on
July 24, 2019

Share

On the political spectrum, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) of Vermont and Rep. Devin Nunes (R) of California are polar opposites.
But the liberal Sanders and the conservative Nunes share a disdain of mainstream media that has inspired both to set up media operations distilling unfiltered campaign messages to voters.

Portrait of GV Wire News Director Bill McEwen
Bill McEwen
Opinion

Sanders Takes Questions From His Campaign Manager

Feeling like he hasn’t gotten much love from the traditional media outlets lately, Sanders sat down recently to answer questions from his presidential campaign manager about his “Medicare for All” proposal in an event live-streamed from a makeshift studio.
“We are doing these live streams, we are talking to you directly,” said Faiz Shakir, who is running Sanders’ bid for the Democratic nomination. “One of the reasons is, while we appreciate our friends in the elite media, they don’t often cover the issues that truly matter to working Americans.”
In addition, the Sanders’ campaign has started a podcast, “Hear the Bern,” hosted by his national press secretary, Brihana Joy Gray.

The Devin Nunes Podcast

In Nunes’ ultimately successful 2018 reelection bid, his campaign produced a 40-page, magazine-style mailer attacking The Fresno Bee. And his campaign committee set up a partisan “news and views” site in 2018 that went dormant later in the year.
His 2020 campaign has followed up with the Devin Nunes Podcast, in which he asks questions of conservative guests and offers political opinions.
Television commercials that tout the podcast and show the congressman walking in an orchard with his family air on Fresno-area television stations.

Creating Your Own Universe

Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, offered this explanation to The Associated Press for Sanders’ attempts to control the narrative.
“If you go on the premise that Bernie folks think they were boxed out of the mainstream party the last time around, I think the assumption that his folks made is they’ve just got to kind of build their own universe,” Payne said.
It could be said that Nunes already has built his own universe.
He long ago stopped talking to The Bee and only does interviews with local and national outlets he judges friendly to his cause, such as Fresno’s KMJ radio and Fox News. And he hasn’t held a public town hall in years.
The podcast allows Nunes, like Sanders, to control the narrative, energize his base, and reach potential campaign donors across the nation.
However, when the candidate and the campaign write the questions, the resulting content isn’t “news.”
It is what it is: propaganda.

Perhaps Sanders and Trump Have Followed Nunes’ Lead

According to AP, three of Sanders’ top aides talked for an hour on a livestream about whether Sanders was “too consistent for corporate media.” They also analyzed individual headlines and stories about their candidate.
Nunes has critiqued stories, headlines, and specific reporters for years — even conservative radio reporters like the late Bill Manders, who upset the congressman by asking tough questions.
The assumption in the Valley is that Nunes, a staunch defender of President Donald Trump, has adopted Trump’s tactics.
Perhaps it’s the other way around.
[activecampaign form=19]

DON'T MISS

Flu Season in the US Is the Most Intense It’s Been in at Least 15 Years

DON'T MISS

Visalia Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for High-Speed Chase That Injured Officer

DON'T MISS

More Active Duty Troops Will Head to US-Mexico Border, Bringing the Total to 3,600

DON'T MISS

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

DON'T MISS

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

DON'T MISS

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

DON'T MISS

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

DON'T MISS

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

DON'T MISS

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

DON'T MISS

Mother Pleads for Britain’s Help in Freeing Son From Egyptian Prison

UP NEXT

CA School Test Scores Trail Those of States Newsom Considers Culturally Backward

UP NEXT

A Tale of Two Local Districts: Implementing the CA Classroom Cell Phone Ban

UP NEXT

A Presidency That’s Off the Rails. It Took Only Two Weeks.

UP NEXT

DEI Will Not Be Missed in the Military

UP NEXT

Trump Is Going Woke on Energy

UP NEXT

Why CA Fire Response Could Make or Break These Political Careers

UP NEXT

Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.

UP NEXT

Trump’s Plan to Crush the Academic Left

UP NEXT

Trump Leaves Democrats Dazed and on the Defensive

UP NEXT

What’s in Store for California if It Splits From the US?

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

1 hour ago

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

2 hours ago

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

2 hours ago

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

2 hours ago

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

3 hours ago

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

3 hours ago

Mother Pleads for Britain’s Help in Freeing Son From Egyptian Prison

3 hours ago

Clean Energy Interests Shift Focus to Money and Jobs

3 hours ago

Russia Claims Capture of Eastern Ukraine Town; Kyiv Officials Silent

3 hours ago

Search Underway Along Alaska’s Western Coast for Plane Carrying 10 People

4 hours ago

Flu Season in the US Is the Most Intense It’s Been in at Least 15 Years

NEW YORK — The U.S. winter virus season is in full force, and by one measure is the most intense in 15 years. One indicator of flu activity ...

17 minutes ago

A flu vaccine is displayed at a pharmacy in New York, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP File)
17 minutes ago

Flu Season in the US Is the Most Intense It’s Been in at Least 15 Years

The damage to the Tulare police officer's vehicle during the incident. (Tulare County DA)
44 minutes ago

Visalia Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for High-Speed Chase That Injured Officer

President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
1 hour ago

More Active Duty Troops Will Head to US-Mexico Border, Bringing the Total to 3,600

Authorities are searching for Hussein Ali, 65, of Fresno, last seen in Millbrae on Jan. 17, driving a black Kia Sorento. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

2 hours ago

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

New Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki poses during a a baseball news conference at Dodger Stadium Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP File)
2 hours ago

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

2 hours ago

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

3 hours ago

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend