Shareholders call for News Corp chairman and his sons to resign from the scandal-torn media empire

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/22/murdoch-mulcaire-news-corp-shareholder
<snip>
Rupert Murdoch has been dealt a blow by shareholders who called on the News Corp chairman and his sons to resign from the scandal-torn media empire.

At the company's annual meeting in Los Angeles on Friday Murdoch made a defiant and uncompromising address, insisting News Corp's history was the "stuff of legend." However, he was berated by shareholders and some of the world's largest investors voted against his re-election, and that of his sons, to the News Corp board. They also did not approve of the $33m (£21m) he was paid as chairman and chief executive this year.

Murdoch owns 12% of the company but controls about 40% of the votes because of News Corp's two classes of shares. But the fact that major investors voted against his re-election and that of his sons and other directors is a major blow for the 80-year-old chairman and chief executive.

News Corp plans to release the full details of the vote on Monday. Before the meeting, shareholders told the Guardian that James Murdoch was likely to receive the biggest vote of no confidence. If the votes go against him, it will cast further doubts on his future at News Corp. The youngest Murdoch son is already facing questions about evidence he gave to a parliamentary inquiry into the News of the World hacking scandal and shareholders at Murdoch-controlled BSkyB have called for his resignation.

At the meeting Rupert Murdoch said he was "personally determined" to clean up the phone hacking scandal that had led to the closure of the NoW, but said the issue needed to be set in context at a company that had faced "understandable scrutiny and unfair attack".
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Poor fucking victim
:puke:
sp
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[malaise]

1. Watson warns shareholders of what's to come

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/21/rupert-murdoch-shareholder-revolt?intcmp=239
<snip>
The Labour MP Tom Watson, a persistent thorn in Murdoch's side, who travelled to Los Angeles to attend the AGM, commented on the "deepest irony" of Friday's opening presentation, which included images of Prince William – who he alleged had been targeted by former News of the World private investigator Glenn Mulcaire – and Kate Middleton, who he claimed had been targeted by another private investigator employed by the now closed Sunday tabloid, Jonathan Rees.

Watson warned News Corp investors that they were facing "Mulcaire 2" in the UK as victims of alleged computer hacking took action against News International. "You haven't told any of your investors what is to come," he told Murdoch, although the News Corp boss insisted in response that his company was co-operating fully with police inquiries.

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[The Wielding Truth]

2. No more chances for you Murdoch. You have done too much harm.

[pacalo]

3. Isn't the reporting of "The Guardian" refreshing, compared to U.S. media?

Would we ever see a quote like this anywhere, other than hearing about it on "Countdown" or the MSNBC evening shows, in the U.S. media:

Stephen Mayne, an Australian shareholder and long-time critic of Murdoch, said it was an "extraordinarily paranoid" meeting. "I think he's losing it," he commented. "He comes across as a paranoid control freak."

I love how the British tell it like it is.

[malaise]

4. The Guardian is more the exception than the norm

but if you examine their ownership structure you'll understand why it's my favorite paper.