Goldberg was born in New York City, New York in 1945 and graduated from Rutgers University in 1967.

From 1972 to 1974 he worked for CBS News as a producer in Atlanta; he became a reporter in 1974 and correspondent in 1976. Goldberg frequently contributed to the CBS Evening News and CBS newsmagazines Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and 48 Hours. For CBS, he hosted two primetime documentaries, Don't Blame Me and In Your Face, America. Don't Blame Me was broadcast on May 26, 1994 and explored alleged irresponsibility of Americans. In Your Face, America, which aired on April 7, 1998, said that American culture suffers from a "coarsening" instigated by entertainment such as The Jerry Springer Show, South Park, and gangsta rap music.

In 2001, his first book, A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News was published and became a number one New York Times bestseller. On an episode of the Phil Donahue talk show on MSNBC, political pundit and comedian Al Franken challenged Goldberg over a claim in Bias that a 1991 John Chancellor quote about the Soviet Union was "liberal hate speech".

Goldberg followed Bias with two books — Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite in 2003 and 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America in 2005. Boston Globe journalist Cathy Young—praised by Goldberg in 100 People—criticized the book for listing mostly liberal or liberal-leaning individuals and only "a Few Token Right-Wingers". There were also many favorable comments about the book including one from Jonah Goldberg (no relation) who said, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is a rollicking and revealing look at 100 of the most egregious obstacles on the path of our nation's return to glory" and Brent Bozell, who commented: "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is out, and it's a wonderful read for anyone not on that list."

Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve followed in 2007, then came A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media in 2009. Both books were also national bestsellers with A Slobbering Love Affair hitting number two on the New York Times list.

Goldberg has been awarded an Emmy for journalism ten times (six at CBS News, four at HBO). For his June 2000 segment "Dominican Free For All", in which he investigated corrupt Major League Baseball recruiting practices in the Dominican Republic, Goldberg won a Sports Emmy for "Outstanding Sports Journalism". He won that award again in 2005 for his story exposing Saudi Arabia's illegal use of young boys as camel jockeys, in 2008 for a story about post-concussion syndrome suffered by some former NFL players, and in 2009 for a story on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel about the slaughter of racehorses that were no longer making money for their owners. Goldberg received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in 2006 for a story on the exploitation of children in the United Arab Emirates. It marked the first time that a sports program had won a duPont award.