"Bias", by Bernard Goldberg

I read this book practically nonstop, the only break coming at 9:20 P.M., when I finally dragged myself off the couch to go make some supper. Goldberg writes in a very readable style, and the subject matter was obviously of great interest to me.

Goldberg's thesis is that the three network newscasts all have a liberal bias. He starts with one particular story, the bias of which is quite clear. This was a report of Steve Forbes' flat tax proposal during the 1996 presidential campaign.

Goldberg wrote an op-ed which appeared in the Wall Street Journal, criticizing his network for its bias. The reaction to this was truly horrendous. Many of his colleagues would no longer speak to him. Dan Rather was furious.

The irony of all this is that the CBS 60 Minutes show had become famous for featuring corporate whistleblowers. But now that there was a whistleblower in its own ranks, a different set of principles seemed to apply.

Goldberg's reporting assignments dried up, but he was allowed to continue to work at CBS for a few years, until he could retire quietly and draw his pension.

Personally, I decided about 30 yeas ago that the network newscasts were a bunch of crap, and I haven't watched any since. My beef had nothing to with the liberal bias which many perceived, but rather with the superficiality of the newscasts. John Chancellor was right on point when, in an interview, he said that he often wished he could close his newscast with "For more information, consult your daily newspaper". (A few years later I also gave up on local newscasts, which had become little more than crime and disaster reports.)

The evils of identity politics come through lout and clear in Goldberg's writing about affirmative action. He says that "News executives are always saying we need out staffs to look more like the real America. How about if those reporters and editors and executives also thought just a little more like the real America?"

This emphasizes a big problem with the whole "diversity" obsession. What about diversity of thought?  For example, there is a big push for diversity on the Supreme Court. And yet, what kind of diversity do we have when the court, until recently, consisted of six Catholics and three Jews? What about some representation for the Protestants? The idea that individual ethnic groups are monolithic in their viewpoints is absurd. Our true need is not for affirmative action crating racial and ethnic diversity, but for an honest effort to promote diversity of thought within an organization.

Goldberg's book is an important attempt to call attention to serious problems in our TV news. Kudos to him.