A political scientist undertook a study without outside funding that concluded there is indeed media bias in the nation’s leading news and media outlets. Among the news and media organizations involved in the study were Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Drudge Report, CBS Evening News, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Times, and several others. In all, the study looked at 20 different news and media organizations. Eighteen of them proved to be left of center.

Tim Groseclose used research assistants who compared media organizations to attorneys in the same way that Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) judges lawyers and scores them according to causes. Groseclose and his team gave media outlets a point for each time they used a source from a think tank or organization known to lean left or right. They also compared the way stories were with written with the speeches of lawmakers and if there was a similar lean then in citations to the lawmakers’ speeches then the media outlet was scored similarly. It’s the first time a study of media bias has been conducted comparing media organizations to lawmakers.

The study concluded that the most centrist news organizations were “NewsHour With Jim Lehrer”, “NewsNight With Aaron Brown”, which airs on CNN, and “Good Morning America” on ABC.

Read more about the UCLA study here.

John Cusack, Hollywood leading man, decided to cut a film about the profiteering of war. It certainly isn’t the first time someone made that claim, and it likely won’t be the last. General Smedley Butler, one of the most decorated Marines in history, right after World War I, went public with his anti-war message and called War Is A Racket. Oh, my! What nerve.

Of course, Hollywood has always been liberal, right? So why then did John Cusack, a Hollywood insider feel it was necessary to bypass the Hollywood movie-making machine and produce an independent film? Could it be because Hollywood isn’t so liberal after all?

Well, there are myths and then there are myths. The liberal nature of Hollywood is one of those myths. That journalists are liberal is another one. The truth of the matter is that studio owners and newspaper conglomerate heads tend to sway to the conservative side. Talk to any leading journalist and he’ll tell that his boss is likely a Republican. California, too, is a huge Republican base, and Hollywood has a lot to do with that. It’s because moneyed interest, which Hollywood movie-making is to a large degree, usually swings the way of whomever is perceived to favor profits more. And being against the war in Iraq, a profiteering enterprise for Republicans, is not a cool thing. We don’t want to piss of the people with the money and the power to do us in, do we?

Well, no, and it’s not likely that the big gang of liberals in Hollywood are going to gang up on the Republican minority in films and make it difficult for them. But it is possible for Republican power elites in film to make it difficult for liberals who go too far with their politics. And I think that is why John Cusack opted for the safer bet of going it alone, because someone else might just as well had taken an axe to project.

OMD Worldwide today announced that it has been awarded the global media planning and buying business for Intel(R) Corporation, following a review that began in December.

It is the agency’s second consecutive global win in 2008. In first quarter, OMD was awarded the Visa global media business.

Other finalists included incumbent Universal McCann and Starcom Digitas.

Rest of the Story Here

Lawyers for The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times and The Associated Press filed a motion requesting the Supreme Court to order the Cook County Circuit Court to unseal court records and transcripts related to R. Kelly’s pornography case.

The R&B icon pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl. Judge Vincent Gaughan (GAWN) has said he’s “trying to protect Kelly’s rights and prevent information from influencing prospective jurors”.

R. Kelly’s trial is scheduled to start May 9th in Chicago. This isn’t the first time R. Kelly has been charged with allegations that he has sexual relations with a minor.

United Business Media, the specialist publishing and events group, is abandoning the UK after 90 years to take advantage of the more favourable tax regime in Ireland.

The move by the company is the second snub to the UK’s tax regime in a month following the decision of drugs group Shire said to move its parent company to Ireland. Other companies including GlaxoSmithKline have also warned that the UK’s business environment may not be conducive to their staying registered here.

Rest of the Story

The atmosphere is thick with anticipation of the upcoming talks between company giants Microsoft and Yahoo. Reportedly, if Yahoo does not start talks this weekend, Microsoft could launch a hostile bid.

Microsoft stated that they will not raise their bid of $31 a share. They don’t feel that right now, after preliminary tests, that Yahoo is worth more than $46 billion. Yahoo stated that the proposed bid underestimates the potential value of the company.

Microsoft also stated that if talks do not take place or if an agreement cannot be reached, Microsoft will start looking elsewhere for future endeavours. Microsoft is looking to vastly improve their position in the online advertising market, especially in the highly lucrative aspect of search advertising, which Google dominates.

TM Media Group Inc. has reached an agreement with President and Director, Matt Harmon to sell its entertainment assets for $5000 and 20 million shares of the company’s stock.

The agreement also requires Mr. Harmon to create a new corporation for all of TM Media’s entertainment assests to be transferred where shareholders will receive a 5% distribution of the shares (issued and outstanding).

As a result of the agreement, Mr. Harmon has resigned effective immediately from the Board of Directors and no longer serves as an officer of TM Media. Brian Larsen, CFO, has been appointed President. Roger Gary has been appointed to the Board of Directors.

TM Media is now seeking a new acquistion in the resource sector.

The Iraq War

Spent & Approved War-Spending:
Approximately $600 Billion
Another $200 Billion For 2008

U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq: $12 Billion in 2008

Cost of Deploying One U.S. Soldier for One Year In Iraq: $390,000

Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq:
$9 Billion of U.S. Taxpayers’ Money
$549.7 Milion in Spare Parts Shipped in 2004 to U.S. Contractors.

Weapons: 190,000 Guns (including 110,000 AK-47 rifles)

Missing: $1 billion in Tractor Trailers, Tank Recovery Vehicles, Machine Guns, Rocket-Propelled Grenades and Other Equipment and Services Provided to the Iraqi Security Forces.

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq: $10 Billion

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported: $1.4 Billion

Amount Paid to KBR (a former Halliburton division) to Supply U.S. Military in Iraq with Food, Fuel, Housing and Other Items: $20 Billion

Portion of the $20 Billion Paid to KBR that Pentagon Auditors Deem “questionable or supportable”: $3.2 Billion

Number of Major U.S. Bases in Iraq: 75

Iraqi Troops Trained and Able to Function Independent of U.S. Forces: 6,000

Troops in Iraq: Total 164,970
U.S.: 155,000
U.K.: 4,500
Georgia: 2,000
Poland: 900
South Korea: 650
Other Nations Combined: 1,920

U.S. Troop Casualities: 4,021
98% Male
90% Non-Officers
80% Active Duty
12% National Guard
74% Caucasian
10% African-American
11% Latino
18% Killed by Non-Hostile Causes
51% of US casualties were under 25 years old
70% were from the US Army

Non-U.S. Troop Casualties: 309
U.K.: 176

U.S. Troops Wounded: 29,628
20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

U.S. Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems: 30% develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

U.S. Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq: 68
36 by Enemy Fire

Private Contractors Working in Support of US Army Troops:
180,000 +

Journalists Killed: 127
84 by Murder
43 by Acts of War

Journalists Killed by U.S. Forces: 14

Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed: 8,145

Estimated Iraqi Civilians Killed: Approximately 500,000 +

Estimated Iraqi Insurgents Killed: 55,000

Estimated Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed: 550

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped: 305
147 Released
94 Status Unknown
54 Killed
6 Rescued
4 Escaped

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004: 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005: 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007: 163

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003: 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006: 20,000 - 30,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007: 70,000

Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007: 2,255,000

Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan: 2.1 million to 2.25 million

Iraqi Unemployment Rate: 27% to 60% (where curfew not in effect)

Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 : 50%

Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition: 28%

Percent of Professionals Who Have Left Iraq Since 2003: 40%

Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion : 34,000

Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion: 12,000

Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion: 2,000

Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Had Electricity: 10.9 hrs

Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity: 1 - 2 hrs

Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Had Electricity: 16 to 24

Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity: 5.6

Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems: 37%

Iraqis Without Access to Adequate Water Supplies: 70%

Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated: 22%

Iraqis “strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops”: 82%

Iraqis Who Believe Coalition Forces Are Responsible For Any Improvement In Security: Less than 1%

Iraqis Who Feel Less Secure Because of the Occupation: 67%

Iraqis Who Do Not Have Confidence In Multi-National Forces: 72%

Many of these figures are estimates and from mid-2007. Be sure that most estimates will increase when the new statistics report is released.

It doesn’t seem like Microsoft is too worried about not getting the Yahoo! advertising as was clearly displayed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a news conference concerning the media mogul.

Speaking to a group of nearly 2,000 Microsoft enthusiasts at a technology conference in Seattle, Ballmer asked how many people use Yahoo as their primary Internet search engine.

Only a handful of arms went up, with the majority raising their hands for Google Inc.

After the tepid response for Yahoo’s search, Ballmer said jokingly: “Wow, we offered 31 bucks a share.”

The battle of the corporate giants wages on. Yahoo! is strong, but they need backing power. A merger with the right company could increase profits and share value.

Microsoft approached Yahoo! earlier this year with a $42,000,000,000 offer to purchase and take over the company. Yahoo! feels they are worth more based on the latest reports.

Google has been in negotiations with Yahoo! to purchase all its search advertising for a broader search-ad outsourcing arrangement. This may cause regulatory problems though.

Time Warner AOL has recently entered negotiations with Yahoo! to purchase a 20% stake in the company. Yahoo! has not confirmed anything with AOL as of yet.

Which company has the best chance? Click the link below to find out more.

The Rest of The Story here