So where's the shining knight of news reporting? It's certainly not CNN... Lonnie Courtney Clay
On Monday, April 22, 2013 7:49:14 AM UTC-7, nominal9 wrote: > > See, Lonnie?.... this is the Fox I know and deride....HAR > > http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/news-corp-agrees-to-139-million-investor-suit-accord.html > > News Corp. Agrees to $139 Million Investor-Suit Accord > By Jef Feeley - Apr 22, 2013 9:53 AM ET > > - Facebook > Share<http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbloom.bg%2F17dGtii&t=News+Corp.+Agrees+to+%24139+Million+Investor-Suit+Accord> > > - > - > LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/news-corp-agrees-to-139-million-investor-suit-accord.html&title=News%20Corp.%20Agrees%20to%20%24139%20Million%20Investor-Suit%20Accord&summary=News%20Corp.%E2%80%99s%20directors%20agreed%20to%20a%0A%24139%20million%20settlement%20of%20investors%E2%80%99%20claims%20that%20they%20turned%20a%0Ablind%20eye%20to%20illegal%20conduct%20at%20the%20media%20company%2C%20including%0Aphone%20hacking%20by%20employees.&source=Bloomberg.com> > > - Google > +1<https://plus.google.com/share?hl=en&url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/news-corp-agrees-to-139-million-investor-suit-accord.html> > > - 0 > Comments<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/news-corp-agrees-to-139-million-investor-suit-accord.html#disqus_thread> > > - > - > Print<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-04-22/news-corp-agrees-to-139-million-investor-suit-accord.html> > > - QUEUE > Q > > News Corp. (NWS) <http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NWS:US>’s directors > agreed to a $139 million settlement of investors’ claims that they turned a > blind eye to illegal conduct at the media company, including phone hacking > by employees. > > Insurance covering News Corp.’s board<http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NWS:US>, > including Chairman Rupert > Murdoch<http://topics.bloomberg.com/rupert-murdoch/>, > will fund the settlement of > lawsuits<http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NWS:US>seeking to hold directors > accountable for the scandal sparked by the > exposure and attempted cover-up of illegal reporting tactics used by some > News Corp. journalists in the U.K., according to a statement today by the > company and shareholders who sued. The money will go into the company’s > coffers rather than to individual investors. > [image: Rupert Murdoch: $12 Billion Net Worth at Age 82] > 0:39 > <http://www.bloomberg.com/video/rupert-murdoch-12-billion-net-worth-at-age-82-TsliYh7ZQD%7Ece4w7r3%7EtYw.html> > > > April 18 (Bloomberg) - Bloomberg's Betty Liu profiles News Corp. chairman > Rupert Murdoch and the power he holds in the media industry. > > As part of the settlement, News Corp. officials agreed to tighten > oversight of the company’s operations and set up an anonymous > whistle-blower’s hotline for tips about misconduct, according to Delaware > Chancery Court filings. Shareholders who sued alleged the board’s lax > oversight allowed wrongdoing to flourish at the company and harmed its > stock price. > > “As a condition of the settlement, these enhancements will be adopted by > both companies that emerge from the” split of New York-based News Corp. > into two public companies, officials said in the statement. > Largest Accord > > The settlement is the largest ever reached in a so-called derivative > lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, said Jay > Eisenhofer<http://topics.bloomberg.com/jay-eisenhofer/>, > a lawyer for one of the suing shareholders, Amalgamated Bank. Eisenhofer is > a partner at Wilmington, Delaware-based Grant & Eisenhofer. > > “We are proud of this historic settlement, which continues the > 20-year-history of Amalgamated Bank encouraging corporate reform and > improved corporate governance,” Edward Grebow, the bank’s president, said > in a statement. Amalgamated Bank’s LongView Funds hold more than 455,000 > News Corp. shares, according to the statement. > > News Corp. agreed last year to separate slower-growing publishing assets > from its Fox television and film businesses after coming under pressure > from shareholders. Murdoch will remain chief executive officer of the Fox > side, News Corp. said. > > “We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” Nathaniel Brown, a News > Corp. spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. > Hacking Arrests > > Today’s settlement is part of News Corp.’s push to move past the scandal > over some journalists’ illegal reporting tactics and allegations that > company executives covered up the practices. About 80 people have been > arrested in connection with criminal probes, including Rebekah Brooks, the > head of News Corp.’s U.K. publisher. > > News Corp. journalists are accused of hacking mobile-phone messages of > more than 600 people, including U.S. actors Brad > Pitt<http://topics.bloomberg.com/brad-pitt/>and Angelina > Jolie <http://topics.bloomberg.com/angelina-jolie/>, soccer player Wayne > Rooney <http://topics.bloomberg.com/wayne-rooney/> and murdered British > schoolgirl Milly > Dowler<http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/28/world/europe/milly-dowler-profile>. > > > Last week, British prosecutors said the top editor of News Corp.’s Sun > tabloid newspaper will be charged with authorizing bribes to public > officials. > > Fergus Shanahan approved payments totaling 7,000 pounds ($10,600) to a > public official in exchange for information between 2006 and 2007, > according to a statement from the Crown Prosecution > Service<http://topics.bloomberg.com/crown-prosecution-service/>. > The bribes were uncovered as part of the hacking-scandal probe, prosecutors > said. > > British lawmakers last year concluded Murdoch wasn’t “a fit person” to > lead a major international company after finding News Corp. officials > misled Parliament about the extent of phone hacking at the News of the > World tabloid newspaper, which was closed in the wake of the scandal. > ‘Blind Eye’ > > Murdoch “turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was > going on in his companies,” the House of Commons Culture Committee said in > its report. News Corp. (NWSA) > <http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NWSA:US>directors countered that they > maintained “full confidence” in Murdoch’s > ability to lead the media company. > > Amalgamated Bank, based in New York<http://topics.bloomberg.com/new-york/>, > and a Louisiana pension fund claimed in a lawsuit that some board members > knew as early as 2009 that company reporters in > England<http://topics.bloomberg.com/england/>routinely hacked into phones and > bribed British police for stories. > > Still, directors refused to seriously probe claims of illegal reporting > tactics for fear of angering Murdoch and his children who serve as News > Corp. executives, lawyers for the City of New Orleans Employees Retirement > System and Amalgamated Bank said in court filings. > > At a hearing last year before Chancery Court Judge John Noble in Dover, > Delaware <http://topics.bloomberg.com/delaware/>, News Corp.’s lawyers > disputed investors’ claims that board members participated in a cover-up > because they were beholden to Murdoch and his family. > ‘Evidence Shows’ > > “Rather than ignoring and covering up these matters, the evidence shows > the board” moved to address the scandal quickly and openly, Gregory > Varallo, a News Corp. attorney, told Noble. The judge had been deciding > whether the case could proceed when it was resolved. > > News Corp. shareholders originally sued over the $675 million purchase of > a U.K.-based television production company owned by Murdoch’s daughter, > Elisabeth. They later amended their suit to focus on the phone-hacking > scandal. > > “When institutional investors work constructively to improve corporate > governance practices, good things happen,” Mark > Lebovitch<http://topics.bloomberg.com/mark-lebovitch/>, > a New York-based lawyer who represented the New Orleans pension fund, said > in an e-mailed statement. > > The case is In re News Corp. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, CA 6285, > Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington). > > To contact the reporter on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware > at jfe...@bloomberg.net <javascript:> > To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at > mhy...@bloomberg.net <javascript:> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to epistemology+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to epistemology@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
