Rating: 
Summary: If this doesn't get you thinking, nothing will.
Review: Let me start by explaining why I gave the book only four stars instead of five. There are two reasons: 1) The first four chapters seemed a bit tedious and repetitious, &
2) The remainder of the book was far too short! Perhaps it was my own impatience to get past the history of how the book came to be written and on to the meat of the book that made the first few chapters so hard for me to chew through. While the background was very interesting and insightful, the following chapters were what struck even me, the world's biggest "backyard critic" of liberal agendas, as monumental: The Epidemic of Fear (chapter 5): There is no doubt in my mind that homosexual activity (bi-sexuality, call it what you will) is a growing trend in America. I find it disturbing that it has reached the heart of American teens. I have two teenagers myself, and have discovered that whether in a small town or a major metropolis, bi-sexuality (for either gender) is something of a social status. I can't help but wonder, had the truth about the AIDS epidemic been told, would this trend have been truncated? Would sexual morality still be persecuted as "bigotry", "fundamentalist", and "judgemental"? Would gay adoption rights even be being considered as a healthy option for impressionable children? The Most Important Story You Never Saw On TV (chapter 11) This one strikes close to home, because I have chosen to make a career out of being a wife and mother. I remember a time when being a stay-at-home mom (or domestic engineer if you prefer the glorified term) was considered an admirable choice... and if while the children were at school, mom had time to write a novel, or volunteer for a worthy cause or charity, so much the better! In the last decade or two, the social attitude towards women who stay at home has become almost intolerant. Yet it never occurred to me how big a part the news media played in all this, and I commend Goldberg for exposing the truth about the so-called statistics we've all heard. I Thought Our Job Was To Tell The Truth / Where Pimps and Thieves Run Free (chapters 7 & 10) WOW... and I thought racism was a thing of the past! These two chapters give insight to the oxymoronic double standard of racism and reverse racism. Oh yes, discrimination is alive and well in America. The media has just become a collective expert on doing it within legal boundaries. Targeting Men (chapter 9) Having long ignored such organizations as N.O.W, which treats men as second class citizens deserving as little or less respect than stay-at-home moms, it had never occurred to me just how much men suffer from discrimination. Not just some men in particular, either. I once thought that those who were abused by the system must have deserved it. Now I realize that each time a man is targeted in ways such as are described in this chapter, it affects ALL men. I encourage all people to read this book. In fact, I have made it required reading for my children!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Subject-Bad Journalism
Review: There certainly is *Bias* in the news.....but a conservative bias...not a Liberal bias. Read David Brocks book..*Blinded by the Right* if you want to know what is really going on. Or just watch Faux News or read The Washington *Moonie* Times. If you believe there is a liberal bias after the way the press attacked Clinton for 8 years and now lets pResident Twig bumble through things without comment.....then you really are naive.
Rating:
Summary: Good Content - Not so good writing
Review: The book is focused on the medias bias, the fact that not all the media is neutral. The author has some interesting and factual data, but the writing is hard to read and follow. The author uses an approach full of short stories that are not well linked to the story. It takes too many pages to describe a single fact, using too many words. I was expecting more from this book. Good approach, bad execution.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally caught, and about time
Review: This was a good exercise in learning what exactly to listen and watch for in the media. No longer will the "news" be taken as Gospel. Barry gives solid examples of liberal slants and outright lies that have been fed to the American public in the name of news.
Rating:
Summary: An Unacclaimed Whistleblower...
Review: Bernard Goldberg notes that the mainstream news (ABC, CBS & NBC) all tend to love whistleblowers....So long as they're not media insider whistleblowers. Throughout "Bias," Goldberg gives countless examples of media distortion and bias and wonders, where the Edward R Murrow doctrine of reporting the facts WITHOUT personal opinion or "our slant" went. According to Mr. Goldberg, his fortunes at CBS changed drastically after he wrote an Op Ed piece, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal, criticizing colleague Eric Engberg's dersion of Steve Forbes' Flat Tax plan. The same flat tax recently adopted by Russia, a nation that keeps moving further and further from its socialist roots. Bernard Goldberg holds a mirror up to the mainstream media and it's not surprising that they don't much like what they see. The "Left-wing bias" charge has been around for decades and though some, like Dan Rather deny it, others, like Peter Jennings have, in recent years admitted that "conservative voices in the mainstream media are few and far between." I suspect that his confirming this charge is not what really angers his peers, it's his exposing the blatant hypocrisy of the media elites that has them as mad as a bunch of wet hornets. He tells of news people seeking out blue eyed blondes when doing stories on Aids and homelessness because they fear that upper income whites (their target audience) won't relate to these stories if the faces are predominatly black, Hispanic or Asian. ... Ironically enough, those same people who champion "diversity" seem to cringe when it comes to ideological diversity. Goldberg notes John Stossel as the lone Libertarian (and thus "right-of-center") voice on ABC News. This observation is made by a self-proclaimed "Kennedy Liberal," as Goldberg professes to favor both gay rights and abortion and says he voted against Ronald Reagan twice. Bernard Goldberg mentions how one CBS producer casually referred to Gary Bauer of the Christian Coalition as "That little nut from that Christian group." He also noted that no one in that room would've dared call Jesse Jackson "That big nut from that black group," or Dov Hikind "That right-wing nut from that Jewish group." But we've all seen examples of that, even if we don't choose to notice it. Just look at how the mainstram media heaps praise upon the cackling likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson while ridiculing eleoquent and erudite black scholars like Thomas Sowell and Walter E Williams. Black conservatives like Emanuel McLittle (of Destiny Magazine) and Ken Hamblin (Radio Talk Show Host) fare little better as they are routinely excoriated more roundly than are out and out racial haters like the late Khalid Mohammed and New Black Panther Party leader Quannel X. "Bias" has given the media a gift of the mirror he holds up to it. Since the eighties AM Talk Radio has cut into the viewership of television news and with the advent of Cable news, specifically Fox News, the market share that ABC, CBS and NBC all enjoyed has markedly diminished. For those who insist that ideology has no part of this shift, consider that no Liberal Radio Talk Show Host has ever enjoyed the ratings success that their conservative counterparts have, and that MSNBC and CNN have recently both been scrambling for "conservative voices" - Alan Keyes has joined MSNBC and CNN stole Paula Zahn from Fox News early in 2002. Bernard Goldberg's book is filled with tons of fascinating anecdotal tales and personal accounts of what goes on behind the scenes in network news. There are a few editorial glitches here and there, but the book itself is a riveting read that really delivers what it promises.
Rating: 
Summary: Good content - terrible book
Review: This book is about how the media distorts the news in order to sell a particular point of view. But the writing is terrible. It is hard to keep the track of the book. The author tries to use metaphors in excess, and instead of a good factual book, you have a book that is a mix of very good content (25% of the book) with narrative in excess that adds zero value to the story. Open the book on any page and read a couple of pages and you will see what I mean. The author uses 3 pages to describe a situation or a fact that can be described with 3 sentences. I am a passionate reader, but I had a hard time finishing this book
Rating:
Summary: (Almost) All the News that's Fit to Print
Review: Bernard Goldberg worked for CBS for 28 years. From civil rights to AIDS, this man had (and does have) an extraordinary resume. His body of work is what aspiring journalists, I would hope, learn from. Are inspired by. Is sought to be replicated. However, there was a certain madness in his work. A level of hidden insaniy. Mr. Goldberg felt there was a liberal bias in the way CBS, NBC and ABC presented the news. He didn't want a conservative presentation, he just felt that there was no balance to the news. He acknowledges he's a liberal, or, more liberal than conservative. He just stated that there was no voice from the loyal opposition. So he asked for a forum to air his views. Doors were slammed. Windows shut. And he was totally ignored. And then he committed a Garden of Eden level sin. He went to the Wall Street Journal and wrote an article on the liberal emphasis of the network news. And that was the end of an illustrious career. On a much more subjective level, I've often wondered how CBS, NBC and ABC get the stories they present. If you are paid by the amount of fans you have, surely the selection of stories becomes important. Paul McCartney doesn't do rap. And The Who decided against doing a Gershwin medley. Erode the fan base equals no money. So when the success of your business is to be better than the two huge businesses putting out exactly the same product you are, how do you sell your product in a way that's better than the competition? The station telling the best news, best, gets the most viewers. And somehow, using a formula that would have left Albert Einstein scratching his head, that means more money. Well the stories I saw for decades didn't make much sense. And I am happy and relieved that Bernard Goldberg saw he same hing I saw. They were important stories, no doubt, about AIDS and the Homeless and why Bill Clinton was the victim of a massive Republican plot. But I didn't know anybody who felt the way Tom and Peter and Dan was telling me to feel. It was for the most part, 'this is how we feel and this is how you ought to feel unless you're an ignorant Druid living in the uncharted land west of the Hudson.' The other thing that struck me was that there were nations in unpopular foreign countries that were dying. I mean the entire country was evaporating without so much as an Armani clothed Britt Hume or Sam Donaldson saying a homily. An obit. These stories got no coverage and yet, two income couples in Manhattan making six figures each and "oy, the guilt" of putting young Brie into day care, these stories got serials. Docu-dramas. By all three networks. So I did the only thing I could do. I changed the channel. I watch O'Reilly and ESPN. Every other year I switch over and see Tom getting more (I think the polite phrase is) thick waisted, Dan, like Dorian, unchanged with nary a mark on his face, and Peter, well Peter's just so darn GQ. Then I quickly turn back to O'Reilly in case there's a chance I might catch the horrific, truly terrifying things the Troika is talking about if I don't get my middle aged stuff together. And now I know why. Bernard Goldberg squealed. He ought to be in the Witness Protection Program but he's out here telling us what we always suspected but were afraid to assume. The evening news is ENTERTAINMENT! It's not news, it's SHOW BUSINESS. And, (Ethel Merman, where are you babe?) "There's no Business Like Show Business!" So, this is a great book. It should be required reading for every kid in high school or college. I'm a Bernard Goldberg fan. Keep on writing!
Rating:
Summary: Courage and Honesty
Review: The writer affirms what many have known for a long time, i.e. there is a liberal bias in the main stream American media. He showed courage in writing this book since he was a part of the media (CBS) and thus was pointing out this fault in those who were his fellow workers. Even though he has many liberal views, he was honest enough to recognize and report this bias in spite of the fact that the bias was in favor of positions he often supported. The view presented is an inside perspective of the presentation of news on CBS. The author seems to have a special problem with Dan Rather of CBS but doesn't dismiss the news anchors of NBC and ABC from the accusations of bias. Many examples are given of the bias shown by CBS and other news media as they report news events in such a way as to present liberal causes in a good light. At times he contrasts the examples with what might be called a "what if" scenario with the assumption that a like news event would be reported in such a way as to demean the conservative cause. His examples are numerous and I believe convincing, though I must admit that I may be biased.. The book is both very interesting and informative.
Rating:
Summary: It is about time
Review: This book tells it like it is and its about time. Everyone who watches news and news shows (60 minutes, 20/20, etc) should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Whatever Happened to Playing Fair?
Review: Bernard Goldberg's book 'Bias' confirms what many people have believed for years: That network news is biased towards the left, plain and simple. Don't think so? Read the just the first couple of chapters with an open mind. (They're not long.)If you don't feel Goldberg is playing fair, close the book and go no further. But, if after reading the first couple of chapters, you think the author might just be onto something, keep reading. ...
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