Today it was announced that James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is resigning as the executive chairman at News International, the UK publishing arm of his father’s News Corp. Despite this, Murdoch the younger will continue to work for News Corp.

Murdoch will shift his focus to News Corp’s international TV business, possibly stepping-down due to scrutiny faced during the phone hacking scandal involving News Corp properties. Murdoch had previously relocated to News Corp’s New York headquarters.

“We are all grateful for James’ leadership at News International and across Europe and Asia, where he has made lasting contributions to the group’s strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programs,” said Murdoch the elder of his son. “He has demonstrated leadership and continues to create great value at Star TV, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and BSkyB. Now that he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations.”

News Corp, parent company to 20th Century Fox, FOX News, and many others, has been staring down a lot of controversy lately. First the voicemail hacking scandal, and more recently, allegations that the Sun magazine made a practice of paying corrupt officials for information. Despite all of this, company officials have tightly held together with a fairly impressive poker face. The stepping-down of James Murdoch, who you may remember as his father’s mouthpiece, giving evidence in the House of Commons in central London on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, could be a minor shift or a major upset for the company.

Do you think James Murdoch should have resigned?

James Murdoch Steps Down From News International is a post from: The Inquisitr

Rupert Murdoch is watching as his News Corp. media conglomerate unravels and now word is surfacing that some of the company’s major shareholders have filed a lawsuit against News Corp. The suit alleges that board members knew for more than a decade that some of their US subsidiaries were engaging and even encouraging illegal hacking, not just on phones but also regarding competitor’s computers.

According to several different investment funds involved in the lawsuit, the News Corp. board “has not lifted a finger” to stop hacking attempts and therefore they have exposed investors to “undue legal risk.”

The specific lawsuit in question regards News Corps’ News America Marketing and NDS Group units. The former publishes advertising inserts for Sunday editions of newspapers and is already fighting five lawsuits for anti-competitive behavior, including computer hacking.

In one document a competitor alleges that the company’s CEO promised to “destroy” him if he got in News America’s way, telling the CEO “I work for a man who wants it all, and doesn’t understand anybody telling him he can’t have it.”

Since the News Of The World phone hacking scandal broke shares in News Corp managed to fall at one point by more than 25% while Rupert Murdoch and the rest of his family members continued testifying about their company’s practices in front of various investigative boards around the world.

Do you think shareholders should be suing News Corp. over their despicable business practices? The fact that this company is allowed to still exists amazes me beyond belief.

News Corp. Shareholders Sue Company Over Phone Hacking Scandal is a post from: The Inquisitr