Rating: Summary: Wow! Review: This is something I have always suspected about the honesty and objectivity of the network news and the VIP anchor men and woman. It's so obvious that the news is biased. I'm glad someone in a knowledgable position decided to say it in print. This book should be required reading in all journalism classes.
Rating: Summary: This book had a good premise but it went south Review: This book could have been a good book unfortunately Goldberg goes astray because of his own bias which he then inflicts on the reader. One problem is that it seems he doesn't have enough of the facts or conveniently leaves them out. An example is where he is talking about Catherine MacKinnon being considered an expert by CBS on womens issues. To prove his point to the reader that she should not be considered an expert on women he puts the word expert in quotation marks and tells the reader she is a liberal lesbian and attributes a quote to her that she never said. He also does not provide her credentials to the reader because if he did the reader would know he is not being honest. And this is a book about bias in the media? MacKinnons credentials include almost 25-30 years of working for women's rights. It includes numerous degrees, many books she wrote and many studies she conducts and that the judicial system and lawmakers have used her definition of pornography to write laws. I would say that makes her an expert. He also does a chapter on Aids that really goes astray. He claims the media put out a fear campaign when AIDS first came to light. He claims CBS did a show and allowed a filmmaker who was gay and had AIDS to produce the show. He asks how can a person like that make a unbiased show and answers his own question that they can't so CBS should not have done this. Unfortunately Goldberg then, to get his information about AiDS for this book, goes to an author who is gay and has AIDS. So an author can be fair but a filmmaker can't? That doesn't even make sense. One of his contentions in this chapter was the media should not have put out this fear campaign because the numbers of AIDS cases against heterosexuals that was predicted by the year 2000 never appeared. BUt the one thing Mr. Goldberg does not tell you is that during this campaign of fear the media was subjecting us to caused millions of heterosexuals to rethink the way they behaved during the seventies relationship wise. In fact for a while during this period it became hip for a while to be celibate and to some extent has really caused many people to consider monogamy seriously. So maybe the media did us a favor. Well you won't hear Mr. Goldberg even considering this idea. He talks about during the Clinton's impeachment hearings how the newsreporters would only mention whether the senators doing their speeches were conservative. They would not say here is Liberal Senator Kennedy. But the thing is during this time no one really cared what the liberal senators had to say. We knew what they had to say and that it would all be good for President Clinton. The news stations knew the viewer wanted to hear the conservatives lay into Mr. Clinton. So they fore warned us when a conservative was going to speak. Don't confuse liberal slant or bias with a search for high ratings. Like I said this book was a good idea but I believe Mr. Goldberg needs to drop his grudge against Dan Rather and CBS and then take another stab at it. This time let out all the facts and don't try to bias the reader. He also should have talked to more people who would let him name them in the book. Anyone can write this book and say "someone told me this". He needs to name names if he wants to be taken seriously.
Rating: Summary: What an eye opener!! Review: It's absolutely amazing at the detail in this book about the the Leftists in the media. I was amazed at how stuff I hear on the tv everyday, but never did identify it as Leftist speak, now stands out like a sore thumb when I hear it. A great thanks to the author for helping to open my eyes and to make me scrutinize what I watch, hear and believe from all of the talking heads.
Rating: Summary: Bias? What bias? Review: Although the media giants will deny it vehemently, there is a good deal of bias. The talking heads are radically leftist and will never give a fair shake to a conservative. No wonder more and more people are turning to alternative sources for fair and unbiased news.
Rating: Summary: Not so great. "Bias" is definitely biased. Review: There are definitely pluses to this book but I think the negatives are far greater in number. So, I dont think that this book is worth the time.First, since the book is about Bias, I expected a more rounded dealing of issues. But, thats missing. Completely. There are some issues which have been dealt with very objectively and its great to read those chapters. He starts out by pointing out the problem in news presentations and then lines up other ways of dealing with the same issue in a manner that would hold the original story, not have any bias and yet have the reporters point of view included. Those are the good parts of the book. But, he does this with only 3-4 issues in the entire book - say about 3-4 chapters out of 12. For everything else, he gives a one sided viewpoint. For eg. he talks about the leftist bias towards feminism and mentions some situations where its done a lot of harm. In the same vein, later, he goes on to outline research which shows that children need to spend more time with parents, in comparison to spending time in day-care. In his entire argument, he keeps hinting that women should spend more time with their kids. Not once though does he say that PARENTS (and not just the mother) should spend more time with their kids. Not once in that entire chapter does he include both the dad and the mom as the responsible party. This is definitely 19th century thinking. Also, as an example, the book has only about 12 pages on international issues. On the other hand he has about 14 pages on Dan Rather. This is what I mean by a not-so-rounded approach. He has a clear agenda and he sticks to it. But, that agenda is not what the book is supposed to be about. Atleast the title says "CBS Insider Exposes how the media distort the News". And that gives one an impression that we will get a highly objective viewpoint. But, we do not get that. His only aim is to prove a leftist bias in media - AS IF none other exists. All he really wants to talk about is the leftist bias of the news media. And to that end, he discusses only those issues/examples which can highlight his agenda. And to that end, he does a good job. But, only to that end. Throughout the book he keeps saying that reporters normally include only those examples which highlight their own internal or typical media bias. Mr Goldberg has done exactly that, being guilty of exactly the same transgressions that he blames others of. Bias is biased and a narrow-minded approach to this whole problem.
Rating: Summary: I'm not a reporter like some of the other reviewers Review: It's quite apparrent that the media distorts, slants, and adds to their own reporting as being their own "anonymous source".We didn't need a book to tell us that, but we now have someone from the "inside" to say it's happening. It's about time that someone finally broke ranks and tells the real story about media dishonesty. The media hides behind the first amendment to try to run the country on their terms by using media bias to sway public opinion on subjects from who gets elected president to which laws get passed. The only problem, there is no way to end such bias.
Rating: Summary: Blather Exposed!!!! Review: This book reinforces what many people have known for years! The Big 3 have had almost 50 years to brainwash the public with their liberal bias. Now with radio talk shows and other cable outlets we can get the other side. Just think what politicians et.al. have been allowed to get away with in the past because of media protectionism. Damm Blather is the worst of the Big 3 and he's not ashamed of it - He even thinks Clinton is an honest man!! Give me a break! Bernie Goldberg should get the Pulitzer Prize just for his courage in exposing the TRUTH!
Rating: Summary: Not the Six O'clock News Review: What's right with it? The central conceit - that the news is biased. What's wrong with it? It's biased. Unfortunately, Mr Goldberg only presents cases where the bias is to the left, and disregards right-leaning biases. As a result, we are left not with an informative discussion about media bias in America - with examples from both sides - but an ill-researched, immature tome that offers nothing of value to what should be an important, on-going debate.
Rating: Summary: Go get 'em, Bernie Review: Even better than the smell of napalm in the morning is the smell of someone burning all their bridges behind them. Bernie's got big ones and they're on display here. Granted, he's vested by now -- but still, to have The Dan shun you? Good book. Supplement his pension. Buy it.
Rating: Summary: Funniest First and Last Page Ever! Review: This book offers a fabulous, funny insight into the news media. My father, who was a REAL journalist, would be appauled at the obious liberal slant of the press -- both print and broadcast, if he were alive today. Goldberg is one of the last real journalists with guts and integrity...and this fact jumps off the page at you as he gives vivid, humurous descriptions of his experiences. The two saddest facts revealed by this book: the press people are clueless that they are slanted to the left AND the press is unwilling to look at the impact of daycare/two working parents on children. This book is thoughtful, provocative, and I highly recommend it.
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