MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp chairman, CEO Rupert Murdoch has announced that John Hartigan will step down as News Limited chairman, CEO. He will leave the company on 30 November 2011.

Murdoch said, "John‘s decision will end a distinguished 41 year career with News in which he has given us exemplary service and incredible leadership".

"John was an outstanding reporter, an editor with few peers and has been an inspiring executive, initially as Group Editorial Director and, later, as chief executive for 11 years and chairman and chief executive for the past six.

"Few people have contributed as much as John to the quality of journalism in Australia. He has earned enormous respect among both colleagues and competitors."

Murdoch also praised Hartigan‘s leadership of a long running campaign to defend the public‘s right to know how it is governed and how courts dispense justice.

"Few people have done as much as John to campaign on the public‘s behalf to uphold freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Australia. I thank John for having contributed so much to our company and applaud his great integrity, immense journalistic talent and inspirational leadership".

Hartigan joined the company in Sydney in 1970 as a reporter on The Daily Mirror, and, later, The Daily Telegraph. He went on to work for The Sun in London and the New York Post.

After returning to Australia, Hartigan became Editor of Queensland‘s Sunday Sun, and later the founding Editor of the Brisbane metropolitan daily, The Daily Sun, and a director of Queensland Sun Newspapers.

In 1986 Hartigan was appointed Editor of The Daily Telegraph, and three years later was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. In 1997 Hartigan was appointed Group Editorial Director, the company‘s most senior editorial position responsible for of all of the company‘s newspapers.

He was appointed News Limited CEO in 2000 and Chairman and CEO in 2005.

In recent years Hartigan has delivered numerous speeches on the future of journalism at industry conferences and at the National Press Club. In 2007 he delivered the ABC‘s Andrew Olle Lecture to great acclaim and in 2006 he delivered the Australian National University‘s Reconciliation Lecture, calling for new approaches to solving indigenous disadvantage and the need for better education and employment opportunities for indigenous Australians.

In 2007 Hartigan led the formation of a media coalition "Australia‘s Right to Know" which has successfully campaigned for changes in legislation to improve the openness and transparency of government and the courts.

In 2008 Hartigan joined a small group of journalists to be awarded the Walkley Award for Journalistic Leadership.

MUMBAI: News Corp cannot just be a profitable company but also must be a principled one, said chairman Rupert Murdoch during the 2011 annual meeting of stockholders amid tough questions aimed at him following the phone hacking controversies.

Reports indicate that 150 protesters carried signs critical of
management?s handling of the controversy outside the venue of the meeting. News Corp said that all 15 directors were elected at the meeting, while a proposal to split Murdoch?s role as chairman and CEO was rejected. The results will be filed with regulators early next week.

In his address Murdoch said, "We simply can?t deliver on our
commitment to engage, entertain, and inform if our 50,000 employees aren?t beacons for good professional and ethical behaviour. That is why we must admit to, and confront our mistakes, and establish rigorous and vigorous procedures to put things right. Over the past few months, we have been the subject of much attention over allegations that a number of our journalists in Britain had broken the law by hacking personal telephone voicemails. There is simply no
excuse for unethical behaviour."

Murdoch went on to elaborate on the phone hacking controversies. "We closed "The News of the World" at financial cost to our company and to the many fine and innocent journalists who played by the rules and broke no law... the only thing they broke were great stories. They launched important campaigns, uncovered political scandals and held the powerful to account. Still, closing "The News of the World" was the right thing to do," he said.

If News Corp holds others to account, then it must hold itself to account. ?That is why we have devoted so many resources to get to the heart of this matter... and why I am personally determined to right whatever wrong has been committed and to ensure that it does not happen again anywhere in our company. Our directors, too, are playing an important role. They have been engaged in our processes and progress, and I thank them for their diligence during a period in which the company has been the subject of both understandable scrutiny and unfair attack. I am particularly grateful to two of our directors, both former deputy attorneys general of the United States. Joel Klein has hired and supervised many of the world?s finest lawyers here and
in Britain, while Viet Dinh, on behalf of the Independent directors, has watched carefully over the process on a daily basis, and kept his colleagues fully informed and engaged. These two men have earned over their long careers reputations for integrity, effectiveness, and the highest ethics. I am grateful they are the ones leading the effort for
News Corp to put things right."

News Corp is cooperating very closely with London?s Metropolitan Police, and the cases are in their thorough and competent hands. Murdoch said that while there are great challenges ahead, there are even greater opportunities. He spoke about the progress that various divisions of the company have been making.

"Behind the headline initiatives, such as the production of Avatar, the building of a revolutionary, and profitable, educational division, and the launching of a purely digital original newspaper, The Daily, there is the outstanding but steady growth of our world-class franchises. The Wall Street Journal, now the leading national newspaper in the U.S., has not only shown month-after-month, quarter-after-quarter, increases in circulation revenue... it is recording double digit growth in advertising revenue... while its main competitor is in decline. And the Journal is increasingly a digital platform, with a global monthly digital audience of more than 50 million lucrative readers, stretching across borders and languages."

The Times, Sunday Times and Sun in Britain and the newspapers in Australia, all of which are developing digital personalities on the web and on mobile devices, are doing well. And advertising remains surprisingly strong in Britain.

"Today, our most important growth driver and our fastest growing business segment is our group of news and entertainment cable channels. In Fiscal 2011, our cable channels accounted for more than half of the company?s total adjusted segment operating income. In film and television, Fox News and the FBC network continue to increase their long-term leadership and revenue, leaving the competition far behind... and launching programs that are creative and remunerative. Other cable channels, such as FX, are vaulting in viewership, and building flourishing franchises.Great programmes and films, and more and ever better ones, are our insurance for the future," Murdoch said.

BSkyB now has ten million homes as subscribers; Sky in Italy has just passed the five million mark; Sky in Germany has made significant strides this year; and Tata Sky has grown to 4.5 million in India.

"These are only a few of our world-leading franchises and give a sense of the opportunities that await us... and they are eloquent evidence of the truly remarkable journey that we have taken together... and of the profitable path ahead. Visibility into advertising levels for 2012 is uncertain, although advance bookings are holding very steady, and our mix of businesses gives us a firm foundation for short and long-term growth. Our broad, diverse group of businesses across the globe is extremely strong, and we have no intention of resting on our laurels."

MUMBAI: The shareholder meeting of US media conglomerate News Corp takes place on Friday. If reports are to be believed, the Murdochs could be in for a tough time.

There has been talk that shareholders might use the opportunity to put some pressure on Rupert Murdoch and his family to loosen their grip on the company. 

The Murdochs control about 40 per cent of voting stock and a Saudi prince that supports them controls seven per cent. So a vote will not work to get the family to cede control of the company. However, shareholders could send a signal by voting against long-standing board members including James and Lachlan Murdoch.

The meting comes after the phone hacking scandal which led to the closure of ?News Of The World?. Saying the scandal "laid bare a striking lack of stewardship and failure of independence" by the board, shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that stockholders withhold their votes from most company directors standing for re-election, including Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan. Another shareholder advisory firm, Glass Lewis & Co., has recommended a vote against some directors, including Murdoch?s sons.

Two California state employee pension funds will vote their shares against re-appointing Rupert Murdoch to the board. At the same time some analysts feel that since the company?s fundamentals are still solid, to overthrow the management team would be a drastic step at this juncture. What could pose a bigger problem, though, is if there is a rift between father and son James. Reports indicate that this is happening due to a difference in vision between them.

MUMBAI: James Murdoch‘s fate as BSkyB chairman could be decided on Thursday when the pay TV service provider‘s board meets to discuss corporate governance.

BSkyB will announce its financial results on Friday.

Two former News of the World executives have accused Murdoch of misleading Parliament when he learnt of the reporting practices of the former newspaper. Some media reports suggest Rupert Murdoch may be forced to sacrifice his son to save his empire in much the way that Abraham in the Bible had to sacrifice his son. There is also speculation about whether Lachlan could return to the fold if the sacrifice is made.

Media reports also state that the US Department of Justice has been preparing to issue subpoenas as part of preliminary investigations relating to alleged foreign bribery and alleged hacking of voicemail of 9/11 victims.

Meanwhile, US media conglomerate News Corp‘s Management and Standards Committee (MSC) has published its Terms of Reference (ToR). The MSC is authorised to co-operate fully with all relevant investigations and inquiries in the News of the World phone hacking case, police payments and all other related issues across News International, as well as conducting its own enquiries where appropriate.

News Corp has authorised the MSC to have oversight of, and take responsibility for, all matters in relation to the News of the World phone hacking case, police payments investigation and all other connected issues at News International (NI).

These include, but are not limited to, the police enquiries, civil proceedings, Parliamentary proceedings, Lord Justice Leveson‘s public inquiry and the PCC.

The MSC shall ensure full co-operation with all relevant investigations and is authorised to conduct whatever internal investigations it thinks fit to enable it to carry out its role in relation to all NI papers.

The MSC has powers to direct full co-operation from NI personnel with all external and internal investigations and to preserve, obtain and disclose appropriate documents.

The MSC will review existing compliance systems and will recommend, and oversee the implementation of, new policies, practices and systems designed to create an updated and robust governance, compliance and legal structure for NI.

The MSC will report directly to Joel Klein, EVP and News Corporation board director, who continues to have executive authority over these matters. 

Joel Klein shall in turn report in this role directly to Viet Dinh, an independent director and Chairman of News Corporation‘s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Joel Klein and Viet Dinh shall keep the News Corporation board of directors advised, as appropriate.

As already announced, the Chairman of the MSC is Lord Grabiner QC. The full-time executive members of the MSC are William Lewis and Simon Greenberg. Jeffrey Palker continues in his role as News Corporation‘s General Counsel for Europe and Asia as well as being an executive member of the MSC.

Linklaters has been appointed as legal adviser to the MSC.

The MSC is authorised to retain such other professional advisers as it thinks fit.
 

MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Rupert Murdoch?s troubles are far from over. Australia‘s competition watchdog has questioned the bid by Murdoch‘s cable television operation, FOXTEL, to buy out rival operator, Austar.

Murdoch‘s News Limited, a subsidiary of News Corp, has significant stakes in Australian media, and also controls the country‘s largest subscription television provider, FOXTEL, which has 1.63 million subscribers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission told Friday that the cable agreement would create "a near monopoly" in the pay-TV service market.

The ACCC‘s statement is only its initial finding. The contract cannot go through without its consent.
 

MUMBAI: News Corp shareholder Prince Alwaleed bin Talal issued a statement saying that he continues to see the company as a valuable and long term investment and had confidence in the leadership of Rupert Murdoch.

"I continue to see News Corp as a valuable and long term investment and remain both supportive of and confident in the leadership of Rupert and James Murdoch," the Saudi billionaire said in a statement.

The second biggest shareholder in News Corp., Prince Alwaleed has a seven per cent stake in News Corp and is viewed as an important ally of the Murdoch family. Last year News Corp spent $70 million (?43 million) on a stake in the Prince‘s Rotana media company. 

It was the Saudi billionaire‘s intervention in calling for Rebekah Brooks‘ "to go" as News International chief executive that was seen as instrumental in her decision to resign and Rupert Murdoch‘s willingness to accept her resignation.