From the January 2002 Idaho Observer:

Worse than rape? Worse than kidnapping? Worse than red miniskirts?

The book Bias by Bernie Goldberg exposes a strangely raw nerve among dominant media types. For instance, a network executive commented that accusing ABC, NBC and CBS of “liberal bias” is worse than kidnapping his children or raping his wife. Goldberg commented that, in the mind of Dan Rather, it would be worse to accuse him of reporting the news with a “liberal bias” than to announce to the world that he wore a red miniskirt behind the reporting desk every night.

Why is Rather, et al, so defensive about accusations of “liberal bias?” Several studies, including the ones mentioned below as excerpted from Bias, have indicated that dominant media journalists are “far more liberal and far more Democratic than the typical American voter.”

For example:

89 percent of journalists voted for Clinton in 1992 compared to 43 percent of nonjournalists

7 percent of journalists voted for George Bush compared to 37 percent of nonjournalists

2 percent of journalists voted for Ross Perot compared to 19 percent of nonjournalists.

50 percent of journalists say they are Democrats

4 percent of journalists say they are Republicans.

53 percent of journalists describe themselves as liberal; 23 percent of the public said they were liberal.

30 percent of journalists favored Ronald Reagan; 56 percent of nonjournalists favored Reagan.

82 percent of journalists are pro-choice on abortion; 49 percent of non-journalists are pro-choice.

25 percent of journalists approve prayer in public schools; 74 percent of nonjournalists approve prayer in public schools.

81 percent of journalists advocate affirmative action; 56 percent of nonjournalists advocate affirmative action.

47 percent of journalists favor the death penalty in murder cases; 75 percent of nonjournalists are in favor of the death penalty.

78 percent of journalists want stricter handgun laws, 50 percent of non-journalists want stricter handgun laws.

According to a survey of 3,400 journalists conducted by The Orlando Sentinel in March, 2000, journalists are less likely to get married, have children, volunteer their time for community services, own a home or go to church than the nonjournalists who live and work in the same neighborhoods where they live and work.

It appears that the cadre of personalities who gather, edit and report the news to the nation are a minority group of individuals whose worldview is not shared by the majority of people who live in what is errantly referred to as a democracy.

“It's not that so many journalists are so different from mainstream America. It's that some are downright hostile to what many Americans hold sacred,” commented Goldberg.

It is no wonder that Dan Rather would rather be accused of wearing a red miniskirt behind his reporting desk every night than be accused of “liberal bias.” He probably doesn't wear a red miniskirt.