Bernie Goldberg: Members of MSM 'Don't Care' About Liberal Bias

The networks and the newspapers that compose the "mainstream media" "don’t care" if they’re biased towards liberals according to former CBS reporter and best selling author Bernard Goldberg. Appearing on the November 1 edition of "The O’Reilly Factor," Goldberg responded to the recent Harvard study, cited by NewsBusters, that Democrats do get more positive coverage and less negative coverage than their Republican counterparts.

Goldberg also opined that "if another study came out about another kind of bias against women or against minorities, they’d establish a blue ribbon panel to investigate it. But bias against Republicans, they don’t care."

Host Bill O’Reilly noted that "their bias...is costing them tens of millions of dollars and you’d think they’d wise up." Goldberg agreed that "it is bad for business" but "they don’t care" because "they are so ideological." O’Reilly exclaimed that "it’s amazing that they’re willing to sacrifice their career for it."

The relevant portion of the segment is below.

BILL O’REILLY: I don’t think this is a surprise. The only surprise to me was MSNBC, which is, you know, rooting actively for a Democratic victory, almost 50 percent of their coverage is positive. Did- do 38 percent positive Republican coverage as well. That was a surprise to me.

BERNARD GOLDBERG: Let me look at- let me, let me put it this way. The real significance isn’t that their’s a great big bias in favor of Democrats and against Republicans. I mean, we all, as you say, we all know that. The real significance is that nobody in the so-called mainstream media gives a damn about it. The presidents of the three major networks, they don’t care. The people who put together our most important newspapers, they don’t care. Before I wrote the book "Bias" about liberal bias in the media, I told the people I worked with at CBS News, and I told them this for about ten years, that they had a problem, that there was a liberal bias problem and they have to deal with it. They didn’t care then, and they’re not going to care now. But if another study came out about another kind of bias against women or against minorities, they’d establish a blue ribbon panel to investigate it. But bias against Republicans, they don’t care.

O’REILLY: Alright, here, here’s what I don’t understand. Most of these people who run the television networks, particularly, and, and the newspaper editors too, because they have to make money. They have to make money or they’re getting fired. Look, I’m going to make a prediction, you’re going to see the CNN chief get fired soon, the NBC guy, Zucker, I believe is going to get fired. I don’t know why he hasn’t been already because NBC’s entertainment division is down the drain as well as the news division. They’re going to get fired. There’s going to be a stockholder rebellion a "The New York Times." The "Newsday" and the whole Chicago syndicate out there, so their bias, which is demonstrated in this study Bernie, is costing them tens of millions of dollars and you’d think they’d wise up.

GOLDBERG: Bill, what- Bill, when I wrote "Bias," I called you and I spoke to you about this problem. I don’t know if you remember, but we spoke on the phone about this. And that was the big mystery in the year 2001. It’s bad for business. You know what? They don’t care if it’s bad for business.

O’REILLY: It’s amazing.

GOLDBERG: They don’t care and the heads of the conglomerates that own the news divisions, they’re not going to- if they step two feet into that newsroom, it’s going to be on page one of "The New York Times" that they’re interfering with the news. So it just doesn’t matter. They are so ideological-

O’REILLY: It’s amazing that they’re willing to sacrifice their whole, their career for it.