The media are ignoring Andrew Yang

But given the lack of overall questions directed to him, Yang has been largely missing from the conversation on health care, one of the issues given the most attention in the debates; he has been asked only three of the 127 questions on the topic. (More questions about his position on health care would be quite useful; Yang says his plan embraces the “spirit of Medicare for All,” though his plan does not involve everyone getting Medicare, or even being offered a public option. Of 71 questions related to governance (things like impeachment, bipartisanship and money in politics), Yang has gotten two. Guns have accounted for 39 of the debate questions; none went to Yang.

As others have documented, Yang’s media woes extend beyond the debates. Yang has been repeatedly left out of MSNBC and CNN on-screen graphics showing the Democratic candidate lineup; MSNBC once even misidentified him as “John Yang.” Yang briefly boycotted MSNBC, demanding an on-air apology for its sleights. (He ended his boycott, without the on-air apology, on Chris Hayes’ show in December.)

In the last six months, Yang has been mentioned 98 times on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN; Klobuchar has gotten 149 mentions. (MSNBC was omitted from FAIR’s search because of Yang’s one-month boycott.)