Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Aug 26, 2007

Rob rated it:

Not that impressive. Liberal media my ass. If the media is liberally biased, why is America so conservative? Who's watching the news? Is it influencing them? It would appear that nobody is, or that it has no impact.

By the way, his big example of bias is that conservatives are introduced as such, while liberals are not labeled. C'mon, gimme a break.

I'm rambling. It's late. And Bernie Goldberg is a douche.

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Joe rated it:

Bernie Goldberg is such a tragic hero. It's so tough to be a wealthy white man in America these days. "President Bush touched my book!" What a dick. Basically this book is hilarious. I'd like to say that it's worth reading for the comedic value, but that's not true. Only read this book if you must and even then, don't buy it. Get it from the library or steal it from a used book store. They probably have plenty. One phrase sums it all up: "The myth of heterosexual aids." You t More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jake rated it:

The other reviews I've seen about this book are predictable. "I hated it because he's a Bush-loving, Red-stater with an ax to grid." Which, of course, proves that these people didn't actually READ the book. If you did read the book, you'd learn that Bernard Goldberg isn't a "conservative hate-monger." He participated in peace rallies during the Vietnam War, and was active in the Civil Rights movement. When you read this book, it becomes clear why Fox News has become so p More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 19, 2007

Emily rated it:

Bernard Goldberg is a former CBS news correspondent who argues that the media has a liberal bias. He wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal that accused the networks of tilting left, and of course it infuriated Dan Rather and other CBS folks. He provides convincing examples that date back to the 80s, but I think he over-generalizes to prove his point.

Parts of the book are funny, but there’s a LOT of repetition. Some of the same quotes are even repeated. Some of the same quot More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 29, 2009

Rusty rated it:

A whistleblower book about TV news in particular and all the "media" in general. Goldberg is not (or at least, was not) a raging conservative and so one has to take some of his points as valid. He does have a tendency to "flog a dead horse". If the horse is not already dead, it is by the time he finishes up a chapter.

It's probably not really fair for me to rate this book. If I were what passes for a conservative these days, I would probably give it five star More...

0 comments like

Feb 07, 2009

Kevin rated it:

Bernard Goldberg spent twenty-eight years as a reporter for CBS. His book shows how the media unintentionally impose a liberal bias when reporting the news. He is quick to point out that for non-social issues like plane crashes or September 11 the media does a superb job. The bias comes out in their coverage of social issues. Several reasons support this feeling.

- A large majority of the press are Democrats compared with around 20% of the general population.

- When getting More...

0 comments like

Sep 17, 2007

Carol added it

Suggested to read with: Attack Poodles and the Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror

A liberals eye view of the media and conservatives one, respectively. Each book offers insights into how the news works and how it is manipulated by political agendas. Wolcott is a correspondent for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker; Goldberg is a former reporter for CBS. Read them together to glimpse both sides.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 16, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

As the author says, the liberal bias in the MSM is so obvious that it's hardly worth talking about anymore. What is worth talking about is the fact that this book was not written by yet another conservative yowling about the unfairness of it all, even if it's a real problem; it's written by a moderate who damaged his own career telling the truth. He was an insider who spoke out, rather than an outsider critiquing something he was never a part of.

He does a good job of mixing his own p More...

0 comments like

Jan 31, 2011

Jenny rated it:

This book helped me to understand that the liberal bias I see in the news/Hollywood (which I always assumed was common knowledge but I guess not, judging by the Goodreads reviews of this book) is not the result of a massive left-wing conspiracy. Reporters tend to be very liberal, and so they actually see the news from a very liberal perspective. That was comforting, but at the same time depressing.

I got fired up about many parts of the book.

The acceptability of lambastin More...

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2009

Kristopher rated it:

Goldberg's finest news story was marred by bitterness and vindictiveness, when this was the perfect opportunity to show what objective reporting really is. His honesty, kind of Zell Miller style, is made more remarkable by his assertion of being a Democrat (49-50) and a liberal (49, 111, 122), but pointedly calling out that those in charge of the media are wholly out of touch with reality. See the statistics on 123-126 that show the disparity between the American public and those to whom we entr More...

2 comments like

Aug 20, 2010

Jim rated it:

One of those books, if you can past his obvious venom towards certain individuals at CBS, you gain a more aware perspective of some of the little things the media does that go to the author's premises: that the main stream media unconsciously, and sometimes even consciously, slants its news stories to further an ideology. Author repeated himself a lot (similar to O'Reilly in "The No Spin Zone", but many of his examples to prove his premises were enlightening.

Glad I read it More...

0 comments like

Jun 02, 2007

Ken rated it:

The author is a whining publicity artist masquerading as a journalist. He clearly has no experience in investigative journalism and is more concerned with his absurd version of 'conventional wisdom' than truth or accuracy.

The fact he got a second book shocks me completely.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Richard rated it:

This book comes out one star higher than Eric Alterman's response, What Liberal Media, largely on the strength of the writing. Goldberg's critique of mass media bias is far too colored with his own personal animosity towards Dan Rather and CBS, a fact which diminishes the whole book's credibility. That being said, his analysis of how the media has occasionally fallen into the problem of advocacy journalism is sound; however, his leap then to say that the media is primarily liberal leaves a few More...

0 comments like

Mar 25, 2009

Kathryn rated it:

This book rocked. I checked it out from the library but found myself wishing I could highlight my favorite paragraphs, which were often enlightening and/or highly entertaining.

For me, I particularly enjoyed the book because it acknowledged things I always thought were odd about the news but thought I was the only one imagining things, and also because it explained why the author believed certain phenomena occurred. I also enjoyed getting the "insider" scoop on a wide range More...

0 comments like

Nov 19, 2007

Jen rated it:

I couldn't agree more with the statements and proof in this book.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 04, 2008

Valerie rated it:

Archived from http://web.archive.org/web/2003012613512...

Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News by Bernard Goldberg

A review of this controversial book demands full disclosure, and I'll freely admit my views lean leftward. So I fully expected to be challenged and provoked by this expose of allegedly prevalent liberal bias in television news by a retired Emmy-winning CkBS reporter. But that was not what happened at all. Alternate titles for "Bias" More...

0 comments like

May 24, 2009

Cathy rated it:

Really interesting book! As a conservative and a journalist, I found it particularly interesting. Unfortunately, since the book was published, I think he's been disproven on a few points, but it was still really important for him to show people how liberal the media tend to be (just look at the swooning over Obama during that campaign!). The media really have lost a sense of balance and reporting, rather than editorializing everything.

0 comments like

Feb 17, 2009

Erik rated it:

I waited for well over a month for this one to come in at the local library, and it was well worth the wait. Goldberg documents with concrete examples the bias that I had suspected for years. (My only complaint was that the book tended too heavily toward a specific attack on Dan Rather at times, rather than the broader bias that is purported throughout the rest of the book.)

0 comments like

Oct 12, 2008

Christopher rated it:

The Media is BIASED? This book describes how the liberal media distorts the news to give their golden boys the advantage. Yes, I said boys and not people because I am not politically correct.

It actually gets to the point of laughable with the antics that they pull. One example shows his boss wanting him to call a bunch of dark complexion people (I forget which country they were from) African Americans even though they weren't American or from Africa, and refused to put the sotry on ai More...

0 comments like

Nov 27, 2010

Tara rated it:

It was written in 2002, so some of the "news" is a bit outdated-- but still relevant/poignant, as the basic issues and sentiments haven't changed. I thought it was really interesting and had trouble putting it down.

Criticism: Repetitive at points-- especially when it came to his bitterness toward the people he used to work with at CBS.

0 comments like

Nov 07, 2011

Troy rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. I already knew there was a media bias, but to hear some of the inside stories was very interesting. I felt that Bernie presented his case in a very non-bias way, which is what I like about him. He's a moderate Democrat, but will gladly see both sides of every issue as a good news man should.

0 comments like

May 25, 2009

Shelley rated it:

Read this book when I was in a book club when we lived in Anniston AL probably 6 years ago. Not being one to watch the news (too depressing) the book was a big surprise to me that the news is so distorted to how that tv station swings to politics, not to mention many other eye openers. I still don't want the news - hahahaha.

0 comments like

Oct 17, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Bernard Goldberg's book about liberal bias in the media carries extra weight because he considers himself to be a Liberal (or he did when he wrote this book at least). In "Bias," he doesn't make pro-conservative arguments; he gives evidence of leftist slants, and advocates real "fair and balanced" journalism. Because of his views, he has been called a right-winged activist (and many worse names) by opponents, but I wish that instead of attacking him, they would respond to t More...

0 comments like

Jan 21, 2009

Cindy rated it:

Folks dismayed by illiberal liberal journalists will value this rather unbiased and very authentic insider's look at our news media. Societal issues are also discussed, as in a controversial Chapter Eleven thesis about moms, jobs, and kids, which may provoke readers to edgy debates.

0 comments like

Jun 10, 2011

Dave/Maggie rated it:

A must-read. Goldberg's career suffered after writing this one, a fact that speaks volumes. Unfortunately, his focus is on liberal bias. Had he broadened his scope to include all "true believers" (ideologues, whether putatively "left" or "right"), the book might have been a masterpiece.

0 comments like

Sep 28, 2009

Ktv126 rated it:

Although anyone with an active brain cell can see the obvious slant, this is still an interesting read. There is such intellectual dishonesty in the “main stream media”. And the MSM has so shamed the first amendment only time will tell if it ever fully recovers.

0 comments like

Feb 28, 2009

Terri rated it:

the first book I ever read on the subject....informative and disturbing....however, currently, I am convinced that rather than just a bias, the mainscream media has crossed over into interpretation, which is why I refuse to watch/listen to it any longer

0 comments like

Aug 03, 2008

Erik rated it:

After reading this book, I look at the media in a whole new light. Mr. Goldberg, a former CBS correspondent, clearly demonstrates liberal bias in the news media. As he points out, it's not about news people going easy on Democrats and hard on Republicans... no it's much more subtle than that. It's just the way they have framed every important discussion in the USA in a liberal light...

Take abortion - how often do you see pro-choice advocates in the media? Now... how often to you see pr More...

0 comments like

Jan 06, 2011

Sean rated it:

This was an interesting fifty pages followed by a hundred and fifty pages of beating around the bush on the same points. Would give 3-4 stars to the first 50 pages... but you can see what my rating for the hot mess that follows is based on the final rating. :)

0 comments like

Dec 20, 2009

Michael rated it:

THis is great, a slam on the media being liberally biased. The bst part is it is detailed enough you could look this stuff up and see what he is talking about! OF ocurse I didn't look up one fact after I read the book, but I COULD have...

0 comments like