Media coverage of four high-profile progressive incumbents facing primary challenges has often favored drama over accuracy. In particular, outlets manufactured election theatrics, reported blowout elections as if the candidates barely scraped by with a win, and eulogized the losing campaigns. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have all been subject to this bad-faith treatment in the last several months. 

Some outlets tried to manufacture drama leading up to the election

Outlets repeatedly framed reelection races of the members of the so-called “Squad” -- a group of congresswomen first elected in 2016 and who are all people of color -- as political “fights,” and framed the incumbents as being on “defense.” Outlets engaged in this framing even as Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib all consistently polled as leading their challengers ahead of their primaries: 

• The Associated Press published a piece titled “Tables turned, Ocasio-Cortez plays defense in primary fight”
• The Twitter account of the The New York Times political team tweeted: “Representative Rashida Tlaib, a first-term Michigan Democrat who rocketed to national attention as a vocal critic of President Trump, is fighting for her political life, locked in a close primary race that could be decided by a few hundred mail-in ballots”
• The Times reported: “Rashida Tlaib, one of the ‘squad’ of four first-term congresswomen of color, is fighting for her political life in a rematch with Brenda Jones, whom she beat by about 900 votes in 2018.”
• The Times published an article titled: “Rashida Tlaib Beat Her Primary Opponent by 900 Votes in 2018. How Will the Rematch Go?” This framing was soundly rejected by Detroit Metro Times which noted: 

Detroit Metro Times called out The New York Times for its bad reporting: “U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is not as divisive as the mainstream media would have you believe. Hell, even The New York Times reported she was ‘fighting for her political life’ ahead of last week’s primary election, a rematch against Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones.”

• The Hill published a story titled “‘Squad' member Rashida Tlaib faces strong primary challenger.” The article’s lede paragraph claimed that Tlaib “is facing a formidable challenge from former Rep. Brenda Jones (D-Mich.) in Tuesday's primary, putting the political future of the progressive first-term congresswoman in the balance.” But a few paragraphs down, the piece referenced a recent poll showing Tlaib ahead with more than double the lead: “Recent polling shows Tlaib with a significant edge over Jones. A Target-Insight survey released earlier this month showed Tlaib with 52 percent support, while Jones trailed at 24 percent support. However, 23 percent of respondents said they were undecided.”
• CNN Politics tweeted: “The ‘Squad’ plays defense as Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar face primary challengers.”
• Politico published a piece titled “Ilhan Omar’s career on the line in tough primary.” The outlet published another piece about Omar's primary, this one titled “‘We don’t need someone distracted with Twitter’: Ilhan Omar fights off tough primary challenge.”
• Newsweek tweeted: “The Squad could shrink as Ilhan Omar comes under fire in Minnesota primary.”

In Markey’s case, some outlets latched onto the notoriety attached to the last name of his challenger, Joe Kennedy III, using the Kennedy family’s political connections to sensationalize the race. At one point, CNN tweeted, “A Kennedy has never lost a race in Massachusetts,” failing to acknowledge that Markey has also never lost an election in Massachusetts. Other outlets also framed the Kennedy dynasty as infallible leading up to the primary:

• The Washington Post published a piece titled “Sen. Markey aims to do the politically unthinkable: Deny a Kennedy a win in Massachusetts.”
• ABC News posted a piece with the headline “Could a Kennedy lose an election in Massachusetts?”
• The Economist tweeted: “A Kennedy has not lost an election in Massachusetts since John F. Kennedy became a congressman in 1946. Joe Kennedy does not want to be the first.”

Even when the primary race was a blowout, outlets continued to push a dramatic survival narrative 

Some outlets continued to push dramatic narratives even after the incumbent candidates won blowout elections, implying that they barely survived tough primaries when, in reality, they won by large margins.

Ocasio-Cortez beat her closest primary opponent in New York’s 14th Congressional District by 56.4% of votes and Tlaib beat her closest primary opponent in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District by 32.6% votes. Yet Politico reported that they “survived” their primaries, leading into a story about Omar facing “the stiffest challenge of any member of the Squad.” 

Omar defeated her closest primary challenger by 19.7% votes, but several outlets promoting an AP story on Twitter also relied on the survival narrative when covering that race as well: 

• The Boston Globe tweeted: “Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on Tuesday survived a stiff Democratic primary challenge from a well-funded opponent who tried to make an issue of her national celebrity.”
• The AP tweeted: “Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has survived a primary challenge from a well-funded Democratic opponent who made an issue of her national celebrity. The win means Omar is nearly certain to win a second term in November in her solidly liberal district.”
• NBC New York tweeted: “Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has survived a stiff primary challenge from a well-funded opponent who tried to make an issue of her national celebrity.”

With 99.54% of Massachusetts precincts reporting, Ed Markey won his primary election by 10.78%. However, his victory was treated with the same survival narrative as the “Squad”’s with NPR reporting, “Sen. Ed Markey survived the highest-profile Democratic primary contest of his decades in federal office.” 

Some outlets eulogized Kennedy’s losing campaign 

After Markey won his primary race against Kennedy, some outlets devoted attention to eulogizing the end of the Kennedy political dynasty:

• Politico tweeted: “In losing his Senate race, Joe Kennedy III has freed his family from a political burden it has struggled to escape”
• The Boston Globe tweeted: “Joseph Kennedy III has conceded to Edward Markey in the bruising Democratic Senate primary, dealing an unprecedented defeat to a Kennedy in Massachusetts”
• In a piece analyzing Kennedy’s campaign, Politico described him as “one of the Democratic Party’s brightest young stars.” It framed Markey as a newly reinvented progressive when, in reality, he has a strong progressive voting record. The piece included unchallenged comments from Kennedy campaign advisers saying that Markey got a “free pass” from the party and the press to “reinvent himself,” and that “this goes to show you that the left doesn't do their homework and they're easily won over by bright shiny objects.” 
• The New York Times tweeted: “Joe Kennedy lost his Senate primary race to Ed Markey, the incumbent. It’s the first loss by a Kennedy in a Massachusetts election.”