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This week on NewsTrust, we focus on Media and Politics. Whatever the story is, the 'other' story is always the media story. Nowhere is this more true than at the nexus of Big Politics and Big Media, and there's lots to discuss on this topic this week -- from Scooter Libby's recent conviction to Ann Coulter's latest remarks about John Edwards.

Join our discussion of Media and Politics, right here:
http://beta.newstrust.net/webx/.f086ab6

We've picked a wide range of news reports and opinions on this topic. Please take a moment to review some of these stories - then come share your views. What's your take on the complex relationship between media and politics -- how well is it working for you, for us and for the country?

Next week's topic will be Global Warming. If you've read some good articles on this topic, please submit them for review on NewsTrust as well. Simply click on "Submit a Story" anywhere on our site - or head over here:
http://beta.newstrust.net/stories/submit.htm

Meanwhile, here's our weekly selection of top rated news and opinions. Check the stories below, or visit our home page for daily updates:
http://beta.newstrust.net/

Thanks for helping us find good journalism online!

Fabrice, Rory, Kaizar and the NewsTrust Team
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TODAY'S PICKS
Here are today's top rated news and opinions, based on ratings from members like you:

A LIBBY VERDICT
New York Times - Mar. 7 (Editorial)
One of the most senior officials in the White House, Lewis Libby, the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, was caught lying to the F.B.I. He appears to have been trying to cover up a smear campaign that was orchestrated by his boss against the first person to unmask one of the... (4.6 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f08979b

INSIDE THE LIBBY JURY ROOM
Huffington Post - By Denis Collins - Mar. 7 (Special Report)
Back to work. Our first witness is Marc Grossman. Twenty-nine-years a foreign service officer. Rose through the ranks to number three in the State Department. Carl, our computer specialist (and Carl Hiassen fan), has been reduced to using Sharpie pens to put the five criminal counts and... (3.8 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f08980d

DESPITE VERDICT, LIBBY'S FATE UNCERTAIN
Associated Press - Mar. 7 (News Report)
Former White House aide I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby's conviction capped a four-year, politically charged investigation but did not seal Libby's fate or resolve some of the lingering questions in the CIA leak case... (3.7 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f089821

HOW LIBBY CAME UNDONE
Time - By Ana Marie Cox - Mar. 7 (Special Report)
Convicted Tuesday of four counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and lying to the FBI, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in the end, was responsible for his own undoing... (3.7 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0898d8

GREEN TIDE
Miami New Times - By Rob Jordan - Mar. 7 (Special Report)
Just as the sun was reaching its highest point in the sky, Lou Greenwell realized he could see again. During a morning spent paddling across Blackwater Sound just off Key Largo, Greenwell, 70 years old, had begun to wonder if there was any end to the shadowy mass that stretched in every... (3.6 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0895ac

MORE TODAY'S PICKS:
http://beta.newstrust.net/stories/todays_picks.htm

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STORIES FOR REVIEW
Please review some of these recent member submissions:

LIBBY'S CONVICTION IN CIA LEAK CASE A SETBACK FOR WHITE HOUSE
Los Angeles Times - By Richard B. Schmitt, Greg Miller - Mar. 7 (News Analysis)
The guilty verdicts Tuesday against former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby made him the first high-level White House official convicted of a crime since the Iran-Contra scandal 20 years ago, and marked the latest fallout from the administration's handling of... (3.7 from source rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0897dc

A CASE OF BAD INK: PORTRAIT OF MEDIA IS NOT SO FLATTERING
Washington Post - By Howard Kurtz - Mar. 7 (News Analysis)
The parade of high-profile Washington journalists who took the stand in the Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury case were not on trial. But few would dispute that the proceedings, which ended with Libby's conviction on four of five counts yesterday, gave their profession a black eye... (3.6 from source rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f089817

CIA LEAK TRIAL PROMPTS SCRUTINY OF MEDIA
Associated Press - By Hope Yen - Mar. 7 (News Analysis)
The CIA leak trial turned a spotlight on the shifting ground rules for reporters and their editors who more than ever must balance their pursuit of the news with a heightened risk of landing in court. Eve Burton, general counsel of the Hearst Corp... (3.4 from source rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f08996a

HOW DAMAGING IS THE LIBBY CONVICTION?
Captain's Quarters - By Ed Morrissey - Mar. 7 (Blog Post)
One can argue that the case has no real bearing on Cheney or his influence. After all, the leaks regarding Plame came from an entirely different area of the administration (State), and through someone who would rather see Cheney in flames than give him covert political assistance... (2.9 from source rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0898c9

DOES THE LIBBY VERDICT HAVE APPEAL?
National Review - By Victoria Toensing - Mar. 7 (Opinion)
The Scooter Libby verdict makes no logical sense, but that won't bother the legal notions of an appellate court. In convicting on four counts but acquitting of one, the jury made the peculiar decision that Libby lied before the grand jury about his conversation with Time's Matt Cooper,... (2.7 from source rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0897f9

EXPERTS WARN NEW U.S. WEAPON COULD JUMPSTART NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
OneWorld - By Haider Rizvi - Mar. 7 (News Report)
A U.S. plan to develop a new hydrogen bomb could spark production of new nuclear weapons by other countries, including several foes of the Bush administration, warn some of the nation's leading arms control and disarmament advocacy groups. (source not rated)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f08982b

MORE STORIES FOR REVIEW:
http://beta.newstrust.net/stories/stories_to_review.htm

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THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES (Independent Sources)
Here are this week's top rated stories from independent sources, based on ratings from members like you:

PUBLIC MISCONDUCT
TomPaine - By Elizabeth de la Vega - Mar. 3 (Opinion)
Last week, apparently belatedly realizing the obvious -- that the attack on former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame was a White House family affair -- New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called for the administration to come clean... (4.0 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f087da9

WHO WILL GET THE OIL?
The Nation - By Christian Parenti - Mar. 5 (News Analysis)
Iraq's postwar oil bonanza remains a mirage. The country has the second- or third-largest reserves in the world, making petroleum the heart and vast bulk of its economy. Thus in March 2003 did Paul Wolfowitz assure Congress that Iraq would "finance its own reconstruction, and... (4.0 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0896dd

NEW CLUES TO GLOBAL-WARMING DANGERS
MIT Technology Review - By Emily Singer - Mar. 5 (News Report)
Using novel genomic technology, marine biologists have found troubling clues that marine life could be extremely vulnerable to climate change. By mimicking future ocean climes and using gene chips to detect how marine organisms respond, the researchers can evaluate how well different... (3.9 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0887ef

ETHANOL: FEED A PERSON FOR A YEAR OR FILL UP AN SUV?
CounterPunch - By Robert Bryce - Mar. 5 (Opinion)
The ethanol scam just keeps getting more and more absurd. In January, three U.S. senators -- two Democrats, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barack Obama of Illinois, along with Indiana Republican Richard Lugar -- introduced a bill that would promote the use of ethanol... (3.9 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088692

OUTSOURCING WALTER REED
TomPaine - By Philip Mattera - Mar. 6 (News Analysis)
Supporting the troops--or supporting the contractors? The real story behind the scandal at Walter Reed. (3.8 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f0892ca

MORE TOP RATED INDEPENDENT STORIES:
http://beta.newstrust.net/stories/toprated_independent.htm

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THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES (Mainstream Sources)
Here are this week's top rated stories from mainstream sources, based on ratings from members like you:

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE NEWS
Frontline - By Lowell Bergman - Mar. 6 (Special Report)
(Part 3 of Frontline's "News War" TV documentary series) Changing times, new audiences, pressures for profits and the Internet revolution are upending mainstream media's old values and business models... (4.5 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088fc7

THE MUST-DO LIST
New York Times - Mar. 4 (Editorial)
The Bush administration's assault on some of the founding principles of American democracy marches onward despite the Democratic victory in the 2006 elections. The new Democratic majorities in Congress can block the sort of noxious measures that the Republican majority rubber-stamped... (4.3 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088289

FDA RULES OVERRIDE  WARNINGS ABOUT DRUG
Washington Post - By Rick Weiss - Mar. 4 (News Report)
The government is on track to approve a new antibiotic to treat a pneumonia-like disease in cattle, despite warnings from health groups and a majority of the agency's own expert advisers that the decision will be dangerous for people. (4.3 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088069

DARWIN'S GOD
New York Times - By Robin Marantz Henig - Mar. 4 (Special Report)
Call it God; call it superstition; call it, as Atran does, "belief in hope beyond reason" -- whatever you call it, there seems an inherent human drive to believe in something transcendent, unfathomable and otherworldly, something beyond the reach or understanding of science... (4.3 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088499

HOMEOWNERS STUCK AS LENDERS CINCH STANDARDS
USA Today - By Noelle Knox, - Mar. 5 (News Analysis)
Experts say there's plenty of blame to go around. During the real estate boom, lenders began offering an array of loans to borrowers with poor credit histories. They let many borrowers finance 100% of the purchase price, often asking for little or no proof of income or assets... (4.1 avg. rating)
http://beta.newstrust.net/.f088795

MORE TOP RATED MAINSTREAM STORIES:
http://beta.newstrust.net/stories/toprated_mainstream.htm
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HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NEWSTRUST

If you like what you see, there are many ways you can support our non-profit service. Here are some ideas to get you started. 

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ABOUT NEWSTRUST

NewsTrust helps people find good journalism online. Our next-generation social network features some of the best news and opinions from hundreds of trusted online sources rated by our members. We rate the news based on journalistic quality, not just popularity. 

It's a great way to get "news you can trust" all in one place. NewsTrust offers a fine selection of quality journalism on our free web site and email/RSS news feeds.

Check the early feedback from bloggers and the press:
http://beta.newstrust.net/about/press_quotes.htm

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