Rating: Summary: Why the Media fear the truth Review: Preface: They fear the truth because it's so damning, that's why. The reaction to Bernard Goldberg's book is a classic case of denial, but on a massive scale. He dared to shine a light on a very real problem with the media today. They felt guilty about it, so they attacked the messenger so they wouldn't have to feel badly about themselves.Review: The tone of the book is very matter-of-fact in spots, folksy in others. These minor sins can be forgiven in that Mr. Goldberg was not just reporting the facts (and facts they are, verifiable if one bothers to research it), he became a statistic himself. After twenty-five years at CBS, his well-produced TV show was cancelled immediately after he published a piece criticizing the media for lack of diversity in their reporting. It's a very human story of one man who dared buck the system on moral grounds and got not one whit of support from those who should have been his champions: the free press. A message that is often drowned out by his detractors is something he states time and time again in the book: There is nothing wrong with being a liberal, or even having a liberal stance on issues. What's wrong is when it corrupts the dedication to truth that serves as the highest standard a journalist should strive for. After hearing so much about the book, I was surprised at its length... only around 230 pages. Certainly thicker than a mere pamphlet, but not the War & Peace epic I had been expecting. It's amusing that the amount of anti-Goldberg rhetoric far surpasses the amount of material presented! And yet... no one has managed to refute even a single one of his claims, even one bit of evidence, and usually resort to character attacks against this-- self-admitted! --liberal. His viewpoint, as a liberal insider who is also a passionate advocate for the truth, puts him in a unique position in the industry. His stories about how the industry reacts in private are absolutely essential. People have decried the Media for their bias from the outside for years using nothing more than the plain evidence presented to us every day. But it took an insider like Bernard to show us how and why this happens. If you are a conservative who wants to know what caused the current mess, or a liberal who wants the truth and to have the tools to fix things, read this book. At least one person is watching the Watchmen, and it behooves more of us to follow his lead.
Rating: Summary: Good title Review: Bias is an appropriate title for a book that might also have been appropriately titled "Axe to Grind." Poorly written, disjointed, self-important and superficial. Don't wast your money on this hot air.
Rating: Summary: The truth from an insider Review: Goldberg became persona non grata at CBS news, a few years ago, when he wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal criticising CBS for slanting the news. He gave as an example, a hatchet job which was done on Steve Forbes. Goldberg was a reporter for CBS and he mananged to hang on to his job for a few more years, but ultimately, after his pension kicked in, he left. Dan Rather was apoplectic over the Journal column and never forgave Goldberg. Goldberg points out tha what is interesting is that Rather was a thorn in Nixon's side during the Watergate scandal yet Rather became just like Nixon. Rather, like Nixon, is unable to stand criticism and if you ever turn against him, he will always be your enemy. Goldberg is no conservative yet, he was demonized by Rather and others at CBS as having some sort of agenda when he wrote the column. In other words, the strategy was to engage in ad hominam attacks on the messenger rather than address the substance of the criticsm. Goldberg gives numerous examples of media bias. The book was written since September 11th 2001 thus, he addresses terrorism, noting that the aftermath of the attack was perhaps the media at their best as they reported the tragic news straight. Still, he notes that over the years the media has always been tilted towards the Palestinians against Israel and that the media has never done a good job of truly investigatring radical Islam and what it is in the Koran that inspires so many to suicide bombings. He notes that there is no cabal that meets to discuss how to distort the news. Instead, most people in the major networks and newspapers are of a similar mindset and they actually believe that they are moderate and that they are reporting the news straight. Dan Rather and others of his ilk are getting exactly what they deserve; a huge loss in ratings as the cable networks, particularly Fox, do a better, more balanced job in reporting the news. Furthermore, they richly deserve this, Goldbergs final triumph, as this book has become a blockbuster best seller. I recommend it.
Rating: Summary: Bias Exposed Review: Lays out the facts about bias in the media with specific names and examples. Good read for open minded individuals. If you want facts to form your own conclusion, they are in this book. Don't be influenced by reviewers who want to debate the issue while ignoring the specific examples Goldberg presents.
Rating: Summary: FINALLY, THE TRUTH! Review: Bernard Goldberg has penned a heavy-hitting expose' of the liberal bias that's been perpetrated on the naive newswatching public for years. No one, including the persnickety old Democrat Dan Rather and Canuck lefty Peter Jennings, escapes the truth here. No wonder this book is a #1 best seller. It affirms what the thinking person has known all along - that network news anchors and their bosses are shills for the ill-conceived liberal agenda. And they have become even more brazen than ever about stating it on the air. What makes this book delectable is that they've been so thoroughly exposed by one of their own. (Will they cry "right-wing conspiracy" again just for old times sake?) Bernie Goldberg is a courageous man and he has the integrity which is sadly absent in the network lackies. And by the way Mr. Goldberg, I've already taken your advice - I turned off the condescending Jennings long ago. And when it comes to Dan, well, I'd Rather not.
Rating: Summary: Confirmation Review: For years, I have been concerned with the bias shown by the media and how they manipulate the viewing public, so was thankful someone like Bernard Goldberg finally came forth to present a behind-the-scenes look at what actually is going on. I hope this book gets the attention it deserves and would encourage all who are interested to read this. Some will be surprised, some like me won't. Thanks for the confirmation, Mr. Goldberg.
Rating: Summary: Endorsed by President and Commander in Chief, George W. Bush Review: Someone in the mainstream media finally got fed up with all the crap. The book is hilarious because it's true! I've dreamed about seeing the likes of Rather and Couric pilloried. Guess I'll have to settle for this.
Rating: Summary: Waking up to the 'frantic orthodoxy' Review: In 1972, New York film critic Pauline Kael famously said she couldn't understand how Richard Nixon had won 49 of 50 states in the presidential election: 'I don't know a single person who voted for him!'... In this important book, veteran reporter Bernard Goldberg does not accuse America's broadcast journalists of actively trying to promote a left-wing agenda. Instead, the crux of his argument seems to be that the reporters, editors, producers, and network executives of the so-called 'mainstream media' live in such an insulated, self-referential world that they actually believe, as Dan Rather once argued, that The New York Times editorial page is 'middle of the road.' Goldberg's book seems aimed, not so much at the general reading public, but at his former colleagues in broadcast news. Indeed, it should come as no surprise to anyone (outside Hollywood and Manhattan, anyway) that the news media has a leftward tilt. According to the late Brill's Content magazine, a 2000 survey showed that even 47 percent of registered Democrats 'believe that most journalists are more liberal than they are.' Only Dan, Tom, Peter, and their fellow insiders continue to insist that they're 'fair and balanced.' Bernard Goldberg is not ideologically driven. He's not (no matter what Dan Rather and his acolytes say) a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, nor a 'political activist' pushing a 'political agenda.' Instead, he's pleading with his former colleagues to recognize how far they've strayed away from objectivity and into advocacy. It's a compelling argument to those of us here on the outside. I doubt any of his real audience is even paying attention. Goldberg's many examples of quotas, preconditions, entertainment-as-news, editorials-as-analysis, and all the rest, are inexorable. It's powerful confirmation of the observation once uttered by the late Austrian writer Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, that the astute observer approaches the media with the mindset, 'What lies do they want me to believe today?' Today, network TV news is little more than a subset (and a not particularly successful one at that) of the larger 'entertainment industry.' If Bernard Goldberg's powerful book doesn't wake up industry executives to the fact that 'the ship be sinking' (one of his chapter titles), it should at least convince the rest of us to release broadcast 'news' from whatever claim it once had to be taken seriously.
Rating: Summary: Liberal tells the truth about media bias and agenda Review: What makes this book unique, is that it is written, not by a Conservative, but by a Liberal! I must commend Mr. Goldberg on his honesty. Great Book.
Rating: Summary: Great Read Review: This book was thought-provoking and informative. I highly recommend it.
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