Dan Rather Quotes

Asking the question whether the mainstream media has a liberal or conservative bias is like asking whether al Qaeda uses too much oil in their hummus. I might think they use a little bit too much oil; some people might think it's a little dry. But the problem with al Qaeda is they want to kill us. And the problem with the mainstream media is that it has these other biases that are much more important.

CNN is pretty consistently on the left, if you look at their choice of stories, what they play up. It's not what they say. It's what they highlight.

The Constitution does not guarantee objectivity of the press …. The question … is not whether news shall be unprejudiced but rather whose prejudices shall color the news.

I think the media is dangerously close to creating their own product. They used to cover the product, which was whatever's happening.

The biases the media has are much bigger than conservative or liberal. They're about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover.

We are in the business of gathering the news. We're not in the business of talking about the news.

The only way to do news on television is not to be terrified of it.

The bias of the media is neither liberal nor conservative but negative.

The press tends to reflect what's important to the country.

As to the journalist himself, it is clear that to get a living he must write to order, that is, he must write in accordance with the views of his paper, in so far as he writes at all on current topics.

CNN is destroying their franchise. They've become either the trial network or the story network.

Do I believe that their coverage is slanted and biased? Yes. I've seen it with my own eyes. A majority of reporters are liberal.

The greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias.

There are those who believe a liberal or a conservative bias permeates the media. I don't. The operative press bias is one that favors conflict, not ideology, and it is lashed by a market-driven bias to boost ratings or circulation with more wow stories, more sizzle.

The Republicans have never had, in their story - conservatives, either, have never had... I'm talking this in a media context, now. They've never had an agenda or a story that the media would like them to have.

No, we don't sit around in dark corners and plan strategies on how we're going to slant the news. We don't have to. It comes naturally to most reporters.

The cable news channels have cleverly seized on the creed of objectivity and redefined it in populist terms. They attack news based on verifiable fact for its liberal bias, for, in essence, failing to be objective, and promise a return to genuine objectivity.

I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in Fox News Channel.

Asking someone in the media about liberal bias is like asking a fish about water. 'Huh, what are you talking about? Where is it?'

Our media doesn’t believe the important question right now is “Is it true?” The important question is, “Is the truth pro-Trump?” If it is, it must not be reported. Never mind the clear lesson that such an approach only discredits the press while providing Mr. Trump the only real asset he has—the revolting qualities of his enemies.

The American press is, and always has been, a booster press, its editorial pages characteristically advancing the same arguments as the paid advertising copy.

You have people talk about the media as a coequal branch when talking about Republicans. "You know, Republicans have to overcome the media, and then the Democrats." Wait a minute. Why should anybody have to overcome the media?

The media claimed to be non-partisan, centrist. It's not been that way for a lot of history.

I've heard it said that the first law of journalism is to confirm existing prejudice, rather than contradict it.

The media uses polls to create news stories. I think polls are just an extension of the editorial page, an excuse to get them on the front page. You can ask any question you want, get any answer you want, and then run around with that as a news story.