Liberal media bias, at NPR and elsewhere, has a long pedigree

You may have heard of NPR’s senior editor. Published About his concerns about liberal bias in the news media. He said he came to this after years of internal conversations about the issue, which he felt were fruitless. You probably heard that he was just like that too. Paused Five days without pay for what he did.

Twenty-eight years ago, in March 1996, another journalist, this one a correspondent for CBS News, went public with concerns about liberal bias in his news organization. This also came after years of internal conversations about bias that he felt were going nowhere.

I have a lot of knowledge about the CBS News correspondent, what he did and why he did it. I was that journalist.

NPR editor Uli Berliner wrote in the Free Press that NPR has “lost America’s credibility” by approaching its news stories with progressive ideas.

Back in 1996, I I have written The Wall Street Journal says, “There are many reasons why fewer people are watching network news, but one of them is that viewers simply don’t trust us anymore than ever before.” I’m sure. There’s a good reason for that.”

I was not suspended or fired. A senior executive came to my defense. And four and a half years later, I left CBS News to expand on my premise in a book called “Bias,” about liberal bias in the news media.

I don’t know Uli Berliner, but I’m sure we have some things in common. He had been working at NPR for 25 years when he took his stock public. When I wrote this op-ed, I was with him for 24 years at CBS News. When he complained internally about liberal bias, his complaints went nowhere. Because he was talking to a journalist who tends to circle the wagons when he hears the words “liberal bigotry.” That’s exactly what I experienced.

NPR Story Regarding his suspension, he said his essay “offended many of my colleagues and gave new ammunition to conservative and partisan Republicans who criticize NPR.”

My op-ed in the WSJ angered many colleagues. I was radioactive at CBS News in Manhattan, where I was based. And even though I considered myself an old-fashioned liberal in 1996, my op-ed gave new ammunition to conservative factions.

And suddenly I was in the crosshairs, even though I had never been accused of conservative bias for the stories I reported on the evening news, anchored by Walter Cronkite and then Dan Rather. It was decided that it would be possible to match. I was called a traitor by at least one anonymous colleague. A senior correspondent in Washington wondered why I stayed at CBS if I thought it was corrupt. No one knows what Mr. Berliner’s colleagues are saying about him behind his back.

According to an NPR News article about his suspension, Berliner’s criticism of the news organization “led NPR executives to issue a monthly internal review of the network’s reporting.” That’s one of the differences between his story and mine. CBS News just went ahead with its merry way, no internal review, no acknowledgment that bias might have been at play, nothing.

The morning my op-ed was published, I got a call on CBS News’ answering machine. It came from Roger Ailes, who was eight months away from launching Fox News. “Goldberg, you have energy,” he said in a voicemail message. He wanted to meet me in person, so when we spoke in his office at Fox News headquarters, he offered me the job.

I turned it down. The way I saw it, I appeared to be sounding a much-needed wake-up call to CBS News. I was doing my colleagues a favor, even if they didn’t think so. I had no intention of quitting.

No one knows what the future holds for Uli Berliner. I hope he is not contaminated with radioactivity when he returns to his job. It doesn’t feel good.

But I’m sure nothing will be gained from his criticism. Journalists love to look down everyone’s throats and tell the world what everyone is doing wrong, whether it’s connected to the military, the political class, American corporations, or even sports. But they don’t like someone looking at the back of their throat. And they really don’t like when someone comes out from inside the tent.

I wish Uli Berliner all the best. I think he might need it.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy Award-winning and Alfred I. du Pont Columbia University Award-winning author and journalist. He is the author of his five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries, and Q&As. substack page.follow him @Bernard Goldberg.