Surprise! Obama All-time Leading Recipient of News Corp. Donations

Obviously, he's in the back pocket of the evil Rupert Murdoch.

Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

The transparency watchdog noted Tuesday that Democrats received 51 percent of contributions while Republicans received 49 percent, despite the firm's highly publicized links to the GOP, such as a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association in August.

News Corp. is the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News, among others. The firm is currently under scrutiny in both the U.S. and U.K. over allegations its subsidiary News of the World hacked into voice mail accounts and bribed public officials.

"Obama being listed as the company’s top recipient might surprise some people because of its highly publicized involvement with his political rivals, like Sarah Palin who was the vice presidential candidate in 2008 and reportedly still under contract with Murdoch-owned Fox News as a paid commentator," wrote Sunlight's Ryan Sibley.

More here.

Hypocrisy, you say? Feh. Obama likes to talk one game and play another. Heck, it hardly caused a ripple last year when he railed against BP and then was revealed to be their largest recipient.

Inconvenient truths.

So clearly News Corp., its subsidiaries and employees are fair and balanced when it comes to political donations. I wonder whether we could say the same about other large news organizations?

Update: More details on past recipients.

While Obama is by far the all-time leading recipient, he's followed in order by Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Gray Davis and Howard Berman. See if you can detect a common thread between them (hint: they're all Democrats).

Chuckie Schumer's also in the top ten. Considering Schumer was also the biggest recipient of Bernie Madoff money when he ran the DSCC, this daily double should qualify him for some kind of award.

The top recipient from News America Holdings was also a Democrat, Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey.

For 2009-2010 from News America Holdings, the top recipients with $10,000 each were Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Berman and Schumer.

Meanwhile, the fabulously wealthy Kerry, who served in Vietnam, is the top political stakeholder in News Corp, with an estimated $600,002 to $1,250,000.

Granted, that's his wife's money.

Update: In a stunning development, a George Soros flying monkey from Media Matters put a unique spin on these revelations.

If it seems like Obama got a lot of money from News Corp. employees, that’s because he got a lot of money from a lot of people in 2008.

Soros is really getting his money's worth, huh?

News Corp Doubles Earnings, Media Matters Hardest Hit

Looks like the George Soros-funded jihadis at Media Matters will either have to regroup and redouble their efforts or Sugar Daddy George might just have the pull the plug. He sure isn't getting his money's worth as the evil News Corp, parent company of Fox News Channel, just announced huge profits.

-News Corp.'s earnings more than doubled in its fiscal second quarter as strong advertising markets and affiliate revenue powered its television segment, while its film and digital media business continued to struggle.

News Corp.'s cable networks have been the chief driver of the company's financial performance for several quarters, while its broadcast division has perked up in recent quarters as ad markets have rebounded and the division begins to enjoy more subscription revenue from recent affiliate agreements it has negotiated with major distributors.

Meanwhile, its film division is wrestling with declines in DVD sales, which is a trend found throughout the industry as consumers adopt online video services. Its satellite division has struggled because of weakness in economies in Europe, and its publishing operations are dealing with the industry's transition to digital media, where business models are still in flux.

For the quarter, News Corp.--owner of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire--posted net income of $642 million, or 24 cents a share, up from year-ago results of $254 million, or 10 cents a share. The latest results included restructuring charges related to an overhaul of MySpace, the social networking site.

Excluding such charges, the company's adjusted per-share earnings came in at 29 cents, a penny above the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

On its top line, revenue increased slightly to $8.76 billion, surpassing the Thomson Reuters estimate of $8.7 billion.

I can see the kids at Media Matters rushing out a release declaring earnings would have tripled if it weren't for their stalwart efforts.

In the fiscal second quarter, News Corp.'s cable networks division posted nearly $2 billion in revenue, up 12% from a year ago, and its operating income rose 22% to $735 million. Ad revenue at its domestic cable channels, like the Fox News Channel, increased 12%, while domestic affiliate revenue was up 10%. The unit's international operations saw ad revenue up 27%, while affiliate revenue was up 17%.

Guess all those boycotts just aren't working out.

Top Democrat to Murdoch: 'Why Don't You Use Your Power To Help Us Promote What You Are Talking About?'

Gee, it was only the other day Barack Obama was whining about Fox News. Oh, the unfairness of it all, one network won't be lapdogs for the Democrats!

But I guess Fox would be useful to certain Democrats if they adopted and promoted one of their pet causes.

"So our border security must also be matched with efforts to make sure employers can't hire illegal immigrants," Murdoch said.

Murdoch and Bloomberg said they believe Congress needs to help employers discern between workers authorized to work in the U.S and those who are not.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., told Murdoch she thought his support for immigration reforms in his testimony did not match the way the immigration issue is presented on Fox News, which is a large part of Murdoch's News Corp. empire.

"Why don't you use your power to help us promote what you are talking about?" Waters asked.

There you have it. A top Democrat admitting a news channel propagandizing on her behalf is acceptable, yet opinions contrary to hers and Obama are not. Clearly she's not satisfied with every other cable and network outlet doing her bidding.

Mark it down: Waters will be one of many shrieking about Fox News when her party is relegated to minority status on November 2.

Duct Tape Futures Look Bright

I don't know the source of this video other than it appears to be from a British show. In it Rupert Murdoch supports his on-air talent Glenn Beck in the faux outrage raised by the liberals over Glenn calling Obama on his racist statements, which led to the boycott of sponsors spearheaded by by the soon to be thrown under the bus czar Van Jones.

Murdoch to Obama: Just Keep Whining

These whiny babies on the left just never learn. They've been pissing and moaning about Rush Limbaugh for 20 years and the guy is more popular than ever, despite the endless smear campaigns waged by the angry left and the media swine who promulgate their lies.

So it come as little surprise that due to the White House jihad against Fox News their ratings are better than ever.

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said on Friday that White House criticism of commentators on his Fox News television channel had served to "tremendously" increase their ratings.

"There were some strong remarks coming out of the White House about one or two of the commentators on Fox News," Murdoch told the annual meeting of News Corp. shareholders here.

"And all I can tell you is that it's tremendously increased their ratings," he said.

Murdoch's remarks came after White House Communications Director Anita Dunn told The New York Times earlier this week that Fox News was "undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House."

Dunn, of course, has now been exposed as a Maoist, also no surprise since it seems most everyone around Obama has Communist ties.

Thanks also to Fox News, we also whiny baby Barry also has some rather dim re-election prospects already.

Maybe he he grew a pair and learned how to handle the slightest bit of criticism his administration wouldn't be disintegrating before his eyes.

Really Bad Idea: Murdoch Wants to Charge for All News Corp. Web Sites

Wave goodbye to foxnwews.com, nypostpost.com and on and on the list goes. I've got as much respect for Rupert Murdoch as the next guy, but you can bet this won't fly, except maybe for access to the Wall Street Journal.

News Corp. said Wednesday it swung to a quarterly loss on $680 million in impairment, restructuring and other charges, most of them in their Fox Interactive Media unit, as the struggling worldwide economy held a firm grip on the media conglomerate.

Chairman Rupert Murdoch said that while economic downturn may have bottomed, "there are no clear signs of a fast recovery."

Murdoch, speaking to analysts and reporters during a conference call, said that advertising markets are showing "good signs of life" despite ongoing weakness in the automotive and financial categories.

Murdoch also said the company intends to charge for all of its news Web sites.

It's conceivable if they were to bundle access to all the News Corp. sites for a very small fee it would be worth consideration, although chances are they'd price out somewhere above 95% of their currents users.

Even the dunderheads at the NY Times relented and scuttled the silly Times Select, although the bulk of their editorial ninnies I wouldn't read if you paid me.

Absurd Headline of the Day

Scroll for update...

So an angry rent-a-mob led by racist Al Sharpton piss and moan outside the New York Post today issuing threats and Reuters comes up with this entirely misleading headline.

New Yorkers to boycott NY Post over "racist" cartoon

New Yorkers are going to boycott? I don't think so. The joke is, none of Sharpton's mob probably even read the Post, or read for that matter, so how is a group that doesn't read the Post going to boycott it?

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied to boycott the New York Post on Thursday, branding the newspaper as racist for publishing a cartoon that appeared to compare President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.

Demonstrators led by civil rights activist Al Sharpton chanted "End racism now!" outside the parent company's skyscraper in midtown Manhattan and called for the jailing of Rupert Murdoch, whose international media conglomerate News Corp owns the Post.

Sure, jailing Rupert Murdoch is very realistic.

Idiots.

Update: The Post apologizes ... sort of.

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon - caricaturing Monday's police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut - has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp's body: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else - as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past - and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

I suspect they're referring to the fat racist.

Heads Explode as News Corp. Reaps Record Profits

Alas, the good news is tempered somewhat by a less robust forecast for 2009, but you can be sure there will be much gnashing of teeth knowing the owner of Fox News, among other media and entertainment outlets, is raking in the dough.

And this after seeing the evil oil companies raking in the profits. Will the left be able to internalize the rage at the success of capitalism?

News Corp., the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, posted Tuesday soaring profits for its fourth quarter and fiscal year, lifted by double-digit revenue gains and strong operating income.

Net profit in the fourth quarter that ended June 30 reached 1.1 billion dollars, or 43 cents earnings per share, a 27 percent increase from a year ago. Revenue climbed 16 percent to 8.58 billion dollars.

The results solidly topped most analysts' forecasts of 34 cents earnings per share on revenue of 8.51 billion dollars.

For the 2008 fiscal year, net profit leaped 68 percent to 5.4 billion dollars, with sales up 15 percent at 32.99 billion. It was the sixth consecutive year of record profits.

The full-year results include a 1.7-billion-dollar tax-free gain on an asset-and-stock exchange with Liberty Media Corporation, as well as gains from the sales of Fox Sports Bay Area and Gemstar-TV Guide International, the company said in a statement.

All this while liberal media outlets (hello, New York Times) continue to hemorrhage.

Maybe there's something to be said for objectively presenting the news.

Murdoch: Obama Will Win By Landslide

The man portrayed by the left as evil incarnate is saying Barack Obama will win by a landslide in November.

This isn't supported by the polls at this time, but with more than five months to go, anything can happen. We already know one Murdoch who's hosting overseas fundraisers for Obama, so it wouldn't be a shock if her father jumped on board.

AUSTRALIAN expatriate Rupert Murdoch today predicted a Democratic landslide in the US presidential election against a gloomy economic backdrop over the next 18 months.

Mr Murdoch has yet to endorse a US presidential candidate but considers Barack Obama very promising, the News Corp (parent company of the publisher of NEWS.com.au) chairman said in an interview by two Wall Street Journal reporters at an annual conference for high-tech industry insiders.

News Corp recently acquired ownership of the Journal and its parent company Dow Jones & Co.

"You have got the Obama phenomenon. You have got, undoubtedly, a recession ... The average American is really getting hurt financially and that all bodes well for him (Obama)," Mr Murdoch said.

"You have probably the making of a complete phenomenon in this country," Mr Murdoch said in describing what he predicted will be a sweeping victory for Democrats in November.

The recent special election for a US Congressional seat held by Republicans in Mississippi showed how powerless that party may be in the face of a rising political tide, Mr Murdoch said.

Despite his portrayal as some extreme right-winger by the left, Murdoch is most unpredictable. He was making nice with Hillary Clinton for a couple of years, and could well jump on the Obama bandwagon.

Murdoch is associated with conservative political views but has a reputation for a pragmatic streak in major national races where he has shown a willingness to switch sides when he detects major political changes afoot.

According to the latest Rasmussen numbers, McCain leads Obama 47-43%, but trails Clinton by a point if matched against her.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

New York Times Under Pressure

Looks like the MSM outlet that shills for the left every chance they get is looking at continued operational/financial difficulties ahead.

News Corp.'s deal puts pressure on New York Times

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- News Corp.'s agreement to acquire Dow Jones & Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, is putting the New York Times on the defensive.

The Times already has a set of financial and journalistic challenges. I wouldn't be surprised if many of its future decisions will be judged as a response to the Dow Jones deal.

This means the Times now has to deal with a determined global competitor with deep pockets. News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has spoken about his interest in increasing the Journal's clout outside the United States. The Times has regarded international coverage as its "franchise."

In other words, a new sheriff is in town to provide some competition. So now the New York Times may have to stop fronting for the Democratic Party and actually start covering the news or suffer the consequences.

The market has already reacted to this over the past few days and the stock has dropped a bit to the $23 to $22 per share range. The video clip with the article is also worth a watch.

I'm crying my eyes out.

Home Is Where the Hypocrisy Is

Coming on the heels of the recent revelations that The Breck Girl had taken money from a Rupert Murdoch company comes this latest news that his daughter was also handsomely rewarded by Murdoch money.

Edwards daughter received Murdoch money

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards recently defended taking a lucrative book contract from a publisher controlled by Rupert Murdoch -- whose News Corp. empire Edwards has sharply criticized -- by insisting that "every dime" of his $500,000 advance went to charity.

Left unmentioned by Edwards, however, was that Murdoch's HarperCollins paid portions of a $300,000 expense budget for the book to Edwards?s daughter and to a senior political aide, Jonathan Prince.

The sums paid to Cate Edwards and Prince, who are listed as co-authors on the little-noticed 2006 coffee table book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives," have not been made public, but were confirmed by two sources with first-hand knowledge of the book deal.

These and other details of the deal that have spilled out in recent weeks demonstrate both the complexity of Edwards' transformation into an anti-corporate crusader, and of Murdoch's double role as a corporate titan and political player.

Expect more mealy-mouthed doubletalk from Edwards, his flacks, or the one who wears the pants in the family, his obnoxious wife.

Not that he still has much of a chance for the Democrat nomination, but he may want to disclose exactly what he took from any Murdoch companies before he's buried completely.

A News Corp. executive would not speak on the record, but said the arrangement demonstrates that Edwards' opposition to media consolidation, and to the conservative Fox News Channel, is a newfound political stance.

"My guess is he had no reservations about doing business with us, just as he had no reservations about appearing dozens of times on Fox News or putting his website up on MySpace," said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

News Corp. is holding back an additional card to play against Edwards: It hasn't released the details of the book's expenses, but presumably could.

UPDATE: More from Michelle Malkin.

Nutroots Suicide Watch: News Corp. Earnings Increase

The pathetic morons from MoveOnToSocialism.org will be spinning furiously today after seeing this news.

Cable Unit Lifts News Corp.

News Corp. managed to offset a steep decline at its 20th Century Fox film business to report higher fiscal fourth-quarter net income, boosted by sharply higher results from its cable channels and its Italian satellite-TV operation.

News Corp. said the results also reflected the "first full year of profitability at Fox Interactive Media," the division that includes the company's social-networking Web site MySpace. The results weren't broken out in detail, although Chairman Rupert Murdoch told analysts and reporters on a conference call the division generated $550 million in revenue and predicted it would top $800 million in fiscal 2008.

Gee, the nonstop bashing of Fox News Channel by the sniveling Democrats and their sycophants really put a dent in their profits.

News Corp.'s net income rose 4.5% in the quarter ended June 30 from the year-earlier period, when it was boosted by an asset sale. The results were released after the market closed. In 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading, News Corp. shares were up 46 cents, or 2.1%, to $22.80.

How dare they make money. Don't they realize they should just give it up to the left so they can redistribute it fairly?

Much of the quarter's growth came from News Corp.'s cable-network segment, which includes Fox News Channel, FX and sports and international cable channels. Fox News's profit has been boosted by higher ad rates and increased fees from cable and satellite operators. Another big contributor to the quarter was the Sky Italia satellite-TV unit, as an increase in subscribers offset growing programming costs.

Contacted at the beauty parlor, John Edwards declined comment.

Murdoch and Ailes Prepare for All-Out War

The bedwetters from Moveon.org, Media Matters, Kos, and the rest of the sniveling left who caterwaul and whine 24/7 about Fox News are in for some sobering news.

These pissants think they can bully some advertisers and flex their muscles whenever they score some mythical victory. Well, they're playing with the big boys now and stand to be crushed like the insignificant little worms they are.

With The Wall Street Journal and a new business network, Rupert Murdoch and Fox News chief Roger Ailes plan their next move: all-out war

But the war for the future of journalism is just beginning. When combined with News Corp. properties like Fox News and the soon-to-be-launched Fox Business Network, Murdoch's purchase of the Journal will create a juggernaut whose influence ranges far beyond the world of financial news and information. With plans to expand the Journal's political and international coverage, Murdoch is itching for a fight with the nation's presumed newspaper of record, The New York Times, as well as the Financial Times of London.

Read the rest.

JWF Goes Mainstream

The nefarious house organ of the ruthless Murdoch empire saw fit to quote me in today's edition. Thanks for the pub, guys.

In the meantime, they slap around the Silky Pony a bit more, including another heretofore unknown tidbit.

The Edwards campaign has refused to answer questions from The Post seeking information about how all of the advance and expense money was spent.

The book was "edited" by Edwards with his daughter, Cate, and Jonathan Prince, an aide. The campaign also refused to answer questions about Edwards' work on the book and whether his daughter and aide were paid.

Meanwhile, the Edwards campaign said he will not return the campaign donations he collected through his networking page on MySpace.com, which is also owned by News Corp.

Silky Pony Took Murdoch Money

The endless hypocrisy of the Silky Pony never ceases to amaze.

Edwards Urges Fellow Democrats To Reject Murdoch's Money

Former senator John Edwards, who has been throwing punches at Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News Channel, demanded yesterday that the other Democratic presidential candidates return contributions from Murdoch's media conglomerate.

"John Edwards will never ask Rupert Murdoch for money -- he won't accept his money," said a statement e-mailed to supporters.

Not so fast, Murdoch's people say. His publishing unit, HarperCollins, paid Edwards a $500,000 advance -- and $300,000 in expenses -- for his 2006 book "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives."

"We assume the senator is going to give back the money from his advance," News Corp. spokesman Brian Lewis said.

Oops.

Totally, busted, he still tries to worm out of it.

Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz said his boss donated the book payments to charity and that the expense money went to staffers and vendors. Citing the announcement that prompted Edwards's e-mail -- Murdoch's $5 billion deal to buy Dow Jones -- Schultz said, "This is about whether or not Murdoch should expand his media empire and use the Wall Street Journal to further promote his right-wing agenda."

The Edwards demand was aimed squarely at Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has received more than $20,000 from News Corp. executives, including $2,300 from Murdoch and $4,600 from company president Peter Chernin. Sen. Barack Obama has gotten $2,100 from Chernin. Lewis noted that Chernin appeared, at Edwards's request, at a 2004 fundraiser for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

I wonder hoiw this will play at the Hitler Youth, I mean, YearlyKos convention?

More from Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah.

170 Cancel WSJ Subscriptions; Can Murdoch Survive?

An utterly laughable story from Editor & Publisher notes that a paltry 170 people have canceled subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal, or one out of every 10,000 subscribers.

How will they carry on?

170 Cancel 'WSJ' Subscriptions -- But How Many Will Follow?

NEW YORK At least 170 subscribers to the Wall Street Journal have canceled their orders since word emerged that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will soon take over the newspaper.

The paper does have 1.7 million print subscribers left.

An article in the Journal today by Martin Peers added that other readers had "voiced their displeasure with the deal in emails."

I'm sure those 170 will likely be offset by new subscribers, but E&P isn't interested in that.

Curious how virtually every newspaper in the country is hemorrhaging readers, but we never hear specific numbers of cancellations.

Now the evil Rupert Murdoch takes over the WSJ, and we have exact cancellation numbers.or

Get Ready For Murdoch Derangement Syndrome

Formal announcement still to come, but expect an avalanche of hysteria from the left to commence any moment now.

How dare the owner of the evil Faux News expand his empire!

Rupert Murdoch has succeeded with his $5 billion bid for Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal, according to sources acting for the Dow Jones board. Negotiations have been completed and the board is confident the terms of the deal will be accepted by the Bancroft family, which controls a majority of voting shares in Dow Jones, over the next few days. A formal announcement is expected next week.

Murdoch’s News Corporation will take over America’s most prestigious financial publisher at the price he originally offered on April 17, when he proposed $60 a share when the stock was trading at $36, a 67% premium.

After lengthy talks involving many lawyers, the deal includes a legally-enforceable agreement with Murdoch which will supposedly guarantee the integrity and independence of the Wall Street Journal’s journalism.

As long as James Taranto is still at Opinion Journal, I really could care less what the leftes on the editorial side of the WSJ think. If they hate Murdoch so much, resign and go elsewhere.

UPDATE: Dow Jones says not so fast.

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) denied a press report Friday that said Rupert Murdoch has agreed with the Dow Jones board to terms of a $5 billion bid for the company.

A spokeswoman for Dow Jones said the report from The Business was "false." She said there has been "no change" in ongoing negotiations on the takeover offer from News Corp. (NWS). "The only agreement is on editorial independence," said the spokeswoman, Andrea Grinbaum.