CBS News President: Seriously, We're Not Biased

CBS News, current employer of the reporter caught coordinating attack questions against Mitt Romney and former employer of the disgraced Dan Rather, is actually not biased. So says its current president David Rhodes.

Now that you've had your guffaw, let's get into the specifics. According to Rhodes, his news team is actually "constantly diligent" to avoid being accused of bias. Those who do so are simply trying to affix "labels" to what is actually objective reporting.

Rhodes made his comments in an appearance in San Antonio where he was interviewed by a local radio talk show host named Michael Board.

The CBS president was also quick to tout his current star anchorman, Scott Pelley:

"I think, frankly, one of the great things about working with Scott since we elevated him, is that nobody really knows where he is, and that is so rare in this environment."

While Pelley has been an improvement over his predecessors Rather and Bob Schieffer, his tenure as host of the CBS Evening News has hardly been bereft of accusations of bias. A quick look through our Scott Pelley archives here at NewsBusters easily dispells this notion. Just one example: Pelley and his team barely covered the recent historic House vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding documents pertinent to the Fast and Furious scandal. This is particularly odd considering that CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson has broken numerous stories pertinent to the flawed gun distribution operation.

Despite his proclamations of his network's fairness, Rhodes seemed aware that many do not believe in the objectivity of the self-styled mainstream press:

"Fox was built into a great franchise because many people in this country don't trust, or just plain don't like, the other options," he said.

That remark is interesting because Rhodes actually used to work at Fox News. According to Crain's New York Business, he oversaw FNC's coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign, despite the fact that his brother, Ben, was working for the Obama campaign. That's a point that the Fox haters are likely never to acknowledge as a contrasting point to the fact that George W. Bush's cousin John Prescott Ellis worked for the channel as a consultant during the 2000 presidential campaign. Could it be that Fox News actually isn't the pure Republican propaganda platform of liberal imagination? Perish the thought!

Incidentally, Ben Rhodes is continuing to work for Obama as a deputy national security adviser. Keep that in mind next time you see CBS talk about Obama's foreign policy.

Hat tip: James Taranto.