Ten years ago Bernard Goldberg published his book, Bias. It was significant
because he was essentially the first media insider to reveal what many of us suspected
about the background and attitudes of the people who determine what you read, see, and
hear in the media. Certainly there were other studies (like the Lichter-Rothman studies)
that also provided insight. But Bernard Goldberg’s book provided lots of information and
an important perspective.

His perspective was helpful because it set aside the idea that media bias was
part of some liberal conspiracy. He said: “there isn’t a well orchestrated, vast left-wing
conspiracy in America’s newsrooms.” Instead, he said that “the bitter truth” is actually
worse. Essentially what we have in “the mainstream media” is a common worldview that
is promoted in the newsrooms and also promoted in the way news stories are covered.

Various studies of the media elite conclude that the people who determine what is
newsworthy and how it is covered are very different from the rest of the American public.
Let’s look at some examples.

Polling data of political parties shows that the United States is about evenly
divided between Republicans and Democrats. But when you ask journalists to identify
their political party, you only find that 4 percent of them identify themselves as
Republican.

In the general population, about 20 percent of Americans identify themselves as
liberal and about 40 percent identify themselves as conservatives. When journalists were
asked to identify their political orientation, 61 percent said liberal. And only 9 percent
identified themselves as conservative or moderate to conservative.

One study found that members of the media when compared to the public at large
are less likely to get married and have children. They are less likely to own homes. And
they are less likely to go to church or synagogue. How many of the journalists polled
belonged to the American Legion or service organizations like the Rotary Club? The
answer was zero.

Ten years later, Bernard Goldberg’s book still reminds us that the media elite
view the world differently than the average American.