Lamestream Media Discover Ron Paul: Ron Paul simply didn’t exist. Maybe the mainstream media were trying to relegate him to oblivion because his anti-Fed and anti-war viewpoints were inconvenient. But even people who weren’t supporters of Ron Paul were outraged: a democracy that wants to be vibrant needs adequate news coverage of major political players. And their outrage lit up the blogosphere, social media, and other outlets

The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The New York Times, and other mainstream media have engaged in an obvious and silly boycott of presidential candidate Ron Paul. Report after report about the Republican primary excluded him, though occasionally they’d mention his name—to be fair and balanced. For example, the media coverage on October 11 ahead of the GOP debate that evening looked like this:

The Wall Street Journal’s front-page article, “Debates Take Candidates for a Bumpy Ride,” didn’t mention Ron Paul.
The New York Times’ front-page article, “Five Things to Watch for in the G.O.P. Debate,” mentioned Ron Paul's name at the bottom, in a parenthetical remark that acknowledged his presence.
NPR's four-and-a-half minute report covered Sarah Palin's and Chris Christie's exit from the race; Herman Cain's from-the-outside strategy; Mitt Romney's 25% ceiling and his “Mormon problem”; and Rick Perry’s lousy performance during debates. But no mention of Ron Paul.