RUPERT MURDOCH made a defiant address in front of his company’s shareholders in Los Angeles yesterday, insisting News Corp’s history was the “stuff of legend” as he prepared to face down the most serious investor revolt in the company’s history.
The 80-year-old chairman and chief executive of the media giant said he was "personally determined" to clean up the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World, but said the issue needed to be set in context at a company that had been under "understandable scrutiny and unfair attack".
He argued the business had a famous history which had to be set against the revelations that several News of the Worldreporters had hacked into voicemails left for crime victims and their families, public figures and celebrities.
Speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Mr Murdoch offered no fresh concessions. With 40 per cent of the votes in his control, there was no prospect of either Mr Murdoch or his heir apparent and son, James, being voted off the board.
Those attending included Edward Mason, secretary of the ethical investment advisory group of the Church of England, which owns about $6 million (€4.3 million) of News Corp shares. “There needs to be decisive action in terms of holding people to account,” he said before the event. Later, Mr Murdoch criticised the church’s investment track record, describing it as “not that great”.
Julie Tanner, assistant director of News Corp investor Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), which represents more than 1,000 Catholic institutions worldwide, was the first to question Mr Murdoch’s track record at the meeting itself, saying the “extraordinary scandals” in the UK required corporate overhaul.
Ms Tanner proposed a motion that News Corp appoint an independent chairman “to empower the board in relation to the Murdoch family”, and asked that the company launch a “truly independent investigation” into the phone-hacking allegations.
Labour MP Tom Watson, a persistent thorn in Mr Murdoch's side, warned News Corp investors they were facing "Mulcaire 2" – a reference to former News of the Worldprivate investigator Glenn Mulcaire – 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 Mr Murdoch. The News Corp boss said his company was co-operating fully with police. – ( Guardianservice)