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

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

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $16.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Truth
Review: What's pathetic is that this book should be considered groundbreaking. What Goldberg says in this book has gone on so long and been so glaringly obvious, that an insider a long time ago should have broken ranks as Goldberg has. The closest we've had until now is Tom Wolfe. But he's not exactly an insider. However, better late than never. I don't even have to click down (so I won't even bother!) to know that a lot of reviews below are one star reviews written by the very type people Goldberg is writing about. Their comments surely only further the points Goldberg makes!! The book does suffer from an often hysterical tone, that Goldberg's critics will surely point at to dismiss the entire text of the book. I'd have preferred him to have been a bit more even-tempered in his presentation. But what he presents is true. I fear, though, he's preaching to the converted. Let's hope this book results in some real and lasting change in journalism becoming more objective! But let's not hold out breaths, either! I'm thrilled this book is a bestseller. Dan Rather's vanity will probably never recover!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: And Don't Forget They Hype
Review: Katie Couric spent 10 hours last year with the families of teenage murderers, trying to get them off, and not even one minute with the families of the victims of teenage murderers and thank you to Mr. Goldberg for pointing out the obvious "Bias".

My only objection to this book was that he failed to point out that the media is not so much "liberal" as "pro" murderer, "pro" criminal class and "pro" corruption. Little things that matter little to the priveledged liberal elite, but matter greatly to the sufferers who must endure it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Reviewers are biased
Review: As a business editor and political centrist, I may be the only reviewer here who knows about the other side of the arguments. If you haven't read Mark Hertsgaard's On Bended Knee, Jody Powell's The Other Side of the Story, or any of the annual lists of "censored" stories in the mainstream media, you don't have perspective about distortions by conservatives and an pack mentality that favors credentials over truth-speaking.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: At last...the truth!
Review: It should come as no surprise that members of the mainstream media are ripping this book to shreds and calling the author a fake. I was interested in this because of my own background in journalism, but it would have piqued my interest anyway--the fact that so many news types are upset is an indication that Goldberg clearly hit a nerve.

Goldberg does not come across as a whiner who is upset because he was blacklisted at work. Nor does he appear to be someone who would rock the boat for personal reasons. Instead, he comes across as a very honest and credible network correspondent who got fed up with the unspoken views and agendas held by the broadcast news departments and major daily northeastern newspapers. What set him off was the Eric Engberg piece on former presidential candidate Steve Forbes' flat tax plan...read the description of the piece, then read Goldberg's analysis and Wall Street Journal editorial, and decide for yourself if CBS ran a story likely to savage Forbes' campaign. After the editorial, Goldberg was hung out to dry by his employers.

Beyond that, the author discusses the mainstream media's handling of high-profile social issues like homelessness and the AIDS virus, and the picture he paints of the media's distortions to put forth an agenda is disheartening. Likewise, his comments about how out of touch these journalists are is a downer--their criticism of so-called conservatives comes off a lot like the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. All in all, a very interesting book--highly recommended for mainstream America (not the best choice of words) and especially for those thinking about a career in journalism. Remember, you do it to tell a story, not because you want to change the world.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Call to Action
Review: I enjoyed Bernard Goldberg's book immensely. I also was impressed by his willingness to put his journalistic integrity ahead of his once successful career. For his actions he should be commended.

In the broadest terms, I do not believe that any reasonable American (read non-media or intellectual elite) would debate the liberal bias pointed out and factually supported repeatedly by Mr. Goldberg. What may be surprising is the lack of comprehension that exists to this bias by seemingly intelligent, respected people. Mr. Goldberg credibly points out that the problems are much deeper than if there was a covert plot to bias the media to the left. If this plot existed, it could be fixed. The liberal bias is so ingrained into the moneymaking mindset of the media that only one thing can dislodge it: competition. I hope that competition from shows like the New Hours, Hardball, The O'Reilly Factor and other "balanced" shows will inspire the network newscasts to balance the debates and stories they present...this will be their salvation and their only hope to reverse the current trend in lost ratings. The country will be better off if we openly debate affirmative action, abortion, gun laws, etc. By excluding one side of the story, the network news organizations not only hurt themselves, they hurt the country they think they are protecting. Hopefully, Bias will act as a call to action for a greater level of balanced reporting from our once trusted, now-misguided network news organizations.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Four Groups exist in America, not Two!
Review: I love this book, because it's the truth. The homeless soup kitchens are filled with people looking for a free meal, often it's a divorced mother with her kids, the neighbor's kids, who is looking for an easy free meal, it's not a life and death situation. How do I know? Been there, done that. I also think he is too hard on liberals, too easy on right wingers. Right wingers are not all the same. Some right wingers are nuts, some of them are unable to read out loud and can't read the Bible, in this year of the Bible. How do I know? I go to church. Rush Limbaugh is a finacial conservative, and some church right wingers are trying to get daycare grants, and suck up to the state. How do I know, look in the Yellow Pages under daycare. Four groups exist: Left wing nuts, Naive Lefts, RightFinacial Conservatives and Right Wing Nuts.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Buy it and pass it around
Review: Nothing in this book was a revelation to me. I stopped watching network news years ago for no other reason that it made my blood pressure to high. This book however does a great job of detailing not only just how pervasive the problem of liberal bias in the news is, but also tries to explain how it got that way.

The first 50 or so pages could use a good housecleaning. I was starting to wonder if it would turn around when about page 55 it went straight into the meat and potatoes. Lots of examples of the liberal slant on:
Homelessness
Aids
Man Bashing
Terrorism

Alas there is nothing on gun control, can't have it all I guess.

Bottom line:
Buy this book even if you already believe the media is biased. Read it to prove to yourself that you are not crazy, then start passing it around your less elightened friends.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Need To Read This
Review: I'm not much of a writer so I'll make this brief: This book needs to be read. I'm a born-again Christian who found the cursing and lifestyles Goldberg (the author) believes in terrible. But yet this man - THIS MAN - is saying the major news networks have a problem with reporting news fairly and in an unbiased manner! I'm just a poor college student right now but believe me, if I ever become rich, powerful, and/or famous I will never forget this book and those disgusting 'celebrities' like Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, etc. You guys will pay if I ever get my way.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Barely worth the paper it's printed on
Review: Never before have I finished a [price]book in two hours. I am being extremely generous in saying that Goldberg turns in a completely lackluster effort. _Bias_ is poorly written, horribly argued, completely unconvincing, and questionably edited. By the latter, I am not referring to the editor's discretion or judgement. What I mean is, it's hard to tell if Bias was edited at all. The screed reads as if Goldberg sat down one evening and pounded the entire thing out in one sitting, probably with the intention of character assassinating Dan Rather (Goldberg's personal vendetta against that man is so shimmeringly clear that, if Bias was edited, no attempt was even made to hide it.) I am at a loss as to how to describe his style in one word (a few, like "excruciating," "brackish," or "agonizing," come to mind, but they will not suffice.) His writing suggests some twisted, hilarious combination of Donald Trump, a Usenet flamewar, and crystal methamphetamine: when Goldberg really wants to prove his point, apparently he sees no better way than to curse liberally and hyperactively scream it with caps lock on. The caustic satire of Mencken or the disarming subtlety De Tocqueville be damned; when Goldberg wants you to understand a point HE'S GOING TO ...HOUT IT AT YOU. And when Goldberg unleashes his cloying smarm (everyone he's ever worked with, with the exception Rather and a few others, is "the best in the business," or he feels a profound love for) I swear he's a dead ringer for The Donald in any of the "Art of the..." series.

But let's say, for a moment, that you do manage to sift this ramshackle train-wreck of prose to Goldberg's underlying argument. In that case, you will be... well, you'll be completely disappointed. Especially if you came to Bias in search of some real, hard, "smoking gun" evidence of widespread liberal slanting in the media. If anyone could convincingly proffer some up, after all, it would be someone with Goldberg's credentials. There is next to none of that here. The bedrock, the very foundation of the author's argument, that which he refers back to time and again to make his point, is (I am not making this up) a six minute op-ed piece that aired on CBS News some seven years ago. All else comes in the form of completely unsubstantiated, water-cooler or overheard conversations with people at CBS News, many of which are not even attributed, or through a (very) few select, myopic, and often unconvincing examples of bias that Goldberg percieves in the greater news media.

Yet even this clumsy attempt at argumentation does not comprise the majority of the book; most of Bias consists of Goldberg's ludicrous attempts at tracing out the societal effects based on the bias he perceives. And they are entertaining. He manages to reach the laughable conclusion, for example, that, by virtue of a hidden compassionate agenda towards gays, the liberal media has somehow managed to obscure the fact that HIV really /is/ a gay disease, and not a major threat to heterosexual Americans! Tell that to American females who were diagnosed with AIDS last year, 75% of whom were infected through straight sex. Even the stupidest, most dense people I know stopped spouting this canard years ago.

That Goldberg, who by his own admission was steeped in news culture for all of his adult life, can offer so little evidence to buttress his argument is telling; it raises series questions about how contrived his claims really are. One would think that after 28 nonstop years of witnessing firsthand widespread liberal bias at CBS, he could fill more than 230 double-spaced, fat-marginned pages with it. But alas, no.

I would advise Goldberg to keep his day job, except that, after being forced out of CBS, his day job appears to be churning out this sort of drivel. And we don't want that. Can't Fox News just hire this man already so we can all get on with our lives? Bias is a best-seller because it, consciously or not, satiates the desires of millions of Americans who really do wish that what it has to say is true. It is a house of cards, a self-perpetuating myth that by virtue of its dogma and the controversy surrounding it has shot to the top of the bestseller lists. Some day, when people finally start peeling away the hype surrounding this book, Bias will be consigned to the oblivion it so deserves just as quickly as it ascended to the pinnacle of literary success.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: LIberals won't see it even if they read the book
Review: If you are a liberal as described in the book. You won't see what Bernie is talking about. If you are a conservative, there won't be anything new here beyond a very satisfing illumination of the situation.
The book is easy to read and I particularly liked the chapters on aids coverage and on the homeless "problem" where facts seem to violently conflict with the coverage.
If you love the NYT, your going to hate this book.
On the other hand, if you live in "fly over country" you'll love it.


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