Beware Biased Coverage of Dow Jones Deal

PartyGaming enters talks with US authorities: "PartyGaming has begun talks with US justice authorities in an attempt to lift the threat of any possible action against the online gambling company for its dealings in the US."

What a reversal from those obit-style headlines we were seeing last fall. No surprise for one who isn't taken with the competency of governmental action and crackdowns.

As an aside, please notice how the business media also thinks in absolutes. Online gambling companies? They are all doomed. Wait, no -- they are saved. Same story, twice the headlines. You can afford to ride a story one way and the other when you aren't locked into a stance by putting your money where your mouth is, which should be food for thought for every investor who doesn't want to be misled by the business media.

On the issue of bias, there is clearly one against Rupert Murdoch. For his tabloid ethics and rank boosterism of one political side over another, The Business Press Maven has plenty of his own issues with Rupert.

But look at how bias against Murdoch has warped coverage of the Dow(n) Jones(DJ Quote) saga in the last day or two. Workers at Dow(n) Jones, who tend to think of Murdoch as one might a particularly bad plague, have approached supermarket magnate, leveraged buyout biggie and failed newspaper acquirer Ron Burkle about the possibility of aligning for some sort of counteroffer.