Rupert Murdoch (Star India) asked to step down as News Corporation chairman

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is being pressed once again by dissident shareholders to step down as chairman of News Corporation.

Shareholders from the US, UK and Canada filed a resolution, calling for News Corp to appoint an independent chairman.

A similar resolution attracted strong support at the media company's annual shareholder meeting last year, reports the Guardian.

The proposal was introduced by Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), which manages 4.6 billion dollars for Catholic institutions worldwide.

A CBIS statement said that a resolution introduced at last year's meeting which called for an independent chairman was approved by two-thirds of the independent shareholders, while another calling for the elimination of the company's dual-class share structure was approved by 62 percent of the public.

It added that shareholders believe that by responding positively to the corporate governance issues, News Corporation can improve oversight of management, reduce business risk and better represent the interests of all shareholders.

In a separate resolution, Nathan Cummings Foundation, an ethical investment group, has called on News Corp to end the dual-class share structure that allows the Murdoch family to control its media empire despite owning a minority of shares.

Pressure for change from shareholders has been mounting since the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp's UK newspapers triggered investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.

The company announced last year that it is intending to split its publishing assets, including the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and Times newspapers, from its faster-growing TV and film assets. Murdoch plans to be chairman of both companies.

Source: ANI, 9 May 2013

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