Hacking scandal turns up heat on News Corp board

[malaise]

This is what Rupert is trying to save - the family's power and he will lose one way or the other

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/16/us-newscorp-corporategovernance-idUSTRE76F01720110716
<snip>
Holding executives accountable may be the first step in stemming the crisis, but News Corp still needs to correct the culture that led to problems, corporate governance experts said.

"For us in the public to be reading about this for so long without any decisive action is mind-boggling to me," said Fred Tannenbaum, managing partner at law firm Gould & Ratner and expert on family-owned businesses.

"My sense is they should put in best practices for ethics, for reporting, for fact-checking and for determining how the facts were obtained," he said.

Stronger corporate governance, including a more independent board of directors, would have pushed News Corp to take much earlier action to hold those responsible to account -- and might have limited reputational damage, experts said.

News Corp's board has long been criticized for being packed with family and corporate insiders who lack independence.

News Corp has said in filings that nine of its 16 board members are independent under Nasdaq listing rules. However, News Corp's dual voting class stock structure gives the Murdoch family control over nearly 40 percent of votes, giving them major say over who is on the board.

[leveymg]

1. News Corp is a foreign agent of influence that should be seized under the RICO statute

The fact that there has been no movement to do so tells me that the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations are no less its captive than Thatcher, Blair, Brown and Cameron have been.

[azul]

2. Corporate governance failure.

." According to The Financial Times, corporate governance expert Nell Minow said her organization, GovernanceMetrics International, has "consistently given News Corp. an F, only because there is no lower grade."

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/07/13/bad-news-for-news-corp.aspx


And still people invest in the damned thing.