Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News

FROM OUR EDITORS

Is there a liberal bias in America's media? Conservatives have made the argument for years, but former CBS broadcast journalist Bernard Goldberg claims that the problem is so widespread that he was forced to blow the whistle on his own industry. Goldberg says that the problem goes much deeper than a simple "Democrats are good, Republicans are bad" mentality; indeed, it is so pervasive that it's considered a matter of course, affecting every decision made by supposedly "impartial" journalists.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Think the media are biased? CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN crying foul for years, but now a veteran CBS reporter has come forward to expose how liberal bias pervades the mainstream media. Even if you've suspected your nightly news is slanted to the left, it's far worse than you think. Breaking ranks and naming names, Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Bernard Goldberg reveals a corporate news culture in which the close-mindedness is breathtaking, journalistic integrity has been pawned to liberal opinion, and "entertainment" trumps hard news every time. In his three decades at CBS, Goldberg repeatedly voiced his concerns to network executives about the often one-sided nature of the news coverage. But no one listened to his complaints-or if they did listen, they did nothing about the problem. Finally, Goldberg had no choice but to blow the whistle on his own industry, to break the code of silence that pervades the news business. Bias is the result. As the author reveals, "liberal bias" doesn't mean simply being hard on Republicans and easy on Democrats. Real media bias is the result of how those in the media see the world-and their bias directly affects how we all see the world. In Bias you'll learn:

How on issues ranging from homelessness to AIDS, reporters have simply regurgitated the propaganda of pressure groups they favor, to the detriment of honest reporting The Peter Jennings test for classifying politicians-and how all the networks do it The network color bar-why so many "victims" on network news stories are blond-haired, blue-eyed, and middle class How one high-level CBS News executive told Goldberg that of course the networks tilt left-but in the next breath said he'd deny that statement if Goldberg ever went public One of the biggest stories of our time-and why you probably didn't hear about it on the evening news How political correctness in network newsrooms puts "sensitivity" ahead of facts The real Dan Rather-a man who regards criticism of liberal bias as treason. If you ever suspected the network news was shortchanging the truth, Goldberg will not only prove you right, he'll give you a glimpse of just how it's done, and how fairness, balance, and integrity have disappeared from network television.

SYNOPSIS

IN HIS NEARLY thirty years at CBS News, Emmy Award- winner Bernard Goldberg earned a reputation as one of the preeminent reporters in the television news business. When he looked at his own industry, however, he saw that the media far too often ignored their primary mission: objective, disinterested reporting. Again and again he saw that they slanted the news to the left. For years Goldberg appealed to reporters, producers, and network executives for more balanced reporting, but no one listened. The liberal bias continued. Now, in Bias, he blows the whistle on the news business, showing exactly how the media slant their coverage while insisting that they're just reporting the facts.

FROM THE CRITICS

Harry Stein - author of How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace)

Bias is a fearless and vitally important book. In exposing the bottomless intellectual corruption within his own industry, Bernard Goldberg does what so many in the mainstream press only pretend to do: he tells the truth without regard to personal consequences. Colleagues will surely accuse Goldberg of treachery, and worse. But it is he, not they, who upholds journalism's finest traditions.

William J. Bennett - bestselling author of The Death of Outrage

The allegation of liberal bias in the media is not a new one. However, in this book the allegation is made not by a conservative but by a reporter for CBS News-an old-fashioned liberal who has seen the bias firsthand. Bernard Goldberg has written a courageous book and told a story that needed to be told.

John Leo - U.S. News & World Report

Bernie Goldberg is dead on. The astonishing distrust of the news media is rooted in the daily clash of worldviews between reporters and their readers and viewers. 'Bias is the elephant in the living room,' said one critic of the news business. After Bernie Goldberg's book, it will be harder not to notice the elephant.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Bernie Goldberg is dead on. The astonishing distrust of the news media is rooted in the daily clash of worldviews between reporters and their readers and viewers. 'Bias is the elephant in the living room,' said one critic of the news business. After Bernie Goldberg's book, it will be harder not to notice the elephant.  — John Leo

The allegation of liberal bias in the media is not a new one. However, in this book the allegation is made not by a conservative but by a reporter for CBS News-an old-fashioned liberal who has seen the bias firsthand. Bernard Goldberg has written a courageous book and told a story that needed to be told. — Wiliam J. Bennett