Rooney: Journalists Liberal, I’m “Surprised” Conservatives Won

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Media Research Council

60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney, who expressed “surprise” at “how conservative America has gotten,” nonetheless showed he is more aware of political ideology than is Phil Donahue. Appearing on Donahue’s MSNBC show on Tuesday night, to Donahue’s dismay, Rooney agreed with Bernard Goldberg’s contention that most journalists view the world from the left: “I think most news people I know tend towards the liberal direction, yes.” When Donahue disagreed, Rooney was taken aback: “You don’t think that’s true? Come on, Phil.”

Later, before discounting FNC as “blatantly conservative,” Rooney elaborated on his befuddlement over how people in labor unions could vote for conservatives: “I have always failed to understand how, why it is so many working people are conservative Republicans. I mean, a lot of people in labor unions are conservative Republicans. That always surprises me because, in many respects, the Republican Party does not represent their best interests quite often. It’s a puzzle.”

At the top of the November 19 Donahue, which MSNBC is broadcasting this week from a studio with an audience at Rockefeller Center in hopes of boosting the viewership, Rooney opined: “The election showed this. I am just surprised at how conservative America has gotten. You can’t deny it.”

I’m sure many of Rooney’s CBS News colleagues are trying to.

Donahue set up a clip of Goldberg: “We had your former colleague, Bernie Goldberg, on the show, pushing me up against the wall. Liberal, nobody cares about you know, they marginalize you. The whole media’s liberal. Everybody is liberal. To hear them talk, there would be nobody, there’s nobody left to be conservative. Here’s how he put it on our program. Bernie Goldberg, ex of CBS.” Bernard Goldberg on tape: “I’m talking about it’s liberal bias in the news. Not in opinion, in the news. And the problem is that the only people I think at this late date who don’t think that there’s a liberal bias in the news are people who are even further to the left than the media elites are.” Donahue: “I guess, I wonder who he was talking about. Do you agree with that? You do, yeah. It’s a talk show, Andy.” Rooney: “I thought it was a nodding show.” Donahue: “You believe that the, that the-“ Rooney confirmed: “I think most news people I know tend towards the liberal direction, yes. [reacting to Donahue’s head shaking] You don’t think that’s true? Come on, Phil. Of course, it’s true. I mean, I try to steer the middle of the road, but I, most of my friends are liberal. Now the-” Donahue: “I think that most of the media think that homosexuals are people entitled to all the rights and the privileges in the Constitution. I believe that liberals, most liberals are for choice in the matter of a woman’s reproductive capacity. If that’s liberal, yeah, I think we’re liberal.” Rooney: “It is liberal. Yes, it is liberal.” Donahue: “All right. I also, I also believe that most of the media today want to go get Saddam, agree with the President’s decision. I would, I think that’s true. I can’t prove it.”

Donahue must not watch Peter Jennings.

But Rooney agreed with Donahue that going into Iraq is a bad idea: “Well, it’s an urge. It’s a male urge. I mean, I think all of us would like to see us go in there and straighten things out. But if you give it any thought, it’s the wrong thing to do without complete international health. The thing about, there is a way of being liberal and not saying anything about it. Now, for instance, Cronkite, for years, I knew where he stood politically, but I don’t think the American public had any impression of his being either liberal or a conservative.”

Three earlier CyberAlert items about Goldberg and Donahue or Rooney and Goldberg:

-- Phil Donahue went on a lengthy harangue on his MSNBC show about how conservatives control the media and suppress liberal views because journalists have “white male Republican boardroom attitudes.” To which Bernard Goldberg retorted that Donahue thinks that “because you’re delusional on this matter.” See the October 11 CyberAlert, with a RealPlayer clip: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20021011.asp#4

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2002


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