James Murdoch under trio scanner
UK Parliament
Observed StarNews Boss Running ‘Mafia Operations’
In this exclusive BBC
clipping you can see UK Parliamentary Enquiry Publicly Grilling of James
Murdoch by Tom Watson.
James Murdoch 'Mafia Boss'
MP Tom Watson Calls James
Murdoch A Mafia Boss
Tom Watson exposes Murdoch
for what he is
Questions they asked are –
1. Are you familiar with
word ‘Mafia?’
2. Have you heard the word
Omerta – the term they use for ‘Code of Silence’?
3. Would you agree it means
group of people bound together with secrecy who together pursue their Business
Objectives with no regard for the law using Intimidation, Corruption, General
Criminality?
4. Would you agree with me
that this is the Accurate Description of News International UK?
5. There allegations of
Phone Hacking, Computer Hacking, Conspiring to Subvert Cause of Justice, Perjury
about your company and all this happened without your knowledge?
6. Mr. Murdoch you must be
the First Boss in history running the Criminal Enterprise.
Ø
StarNews is
foreign owned company operating Like Mafia Criminals than pursuing Honest
Jounalism.
Ø
It could land in
to further trouble if Narmal Baba launched ‘Defamation Suit’ it could end up paying
$billions – profits of Nirmal Baba are declared to be Rs.240 crores – even ten
years loss plus damages could exceed $1b.
Ø
Indian
Parliamentary Committees should also grill ‘Corporate Criminals.’
Ravinder Singh
April20, 2012
James Murdoch quits as BSkyB chairman
Tue, Apr 3 2012
By Kate
Holton and Georgina Prodhan
LONDON (Reuters) - James Murdoch resigned as chairman of
BSkyB on Tuesday to prevent his links to a tabloid phone-hacking scandal from
undermining the pay TV group, which has so far escaped the worst of the damage
convulsing its controlling shareholder News Corp.
In a bitter blow to Murdoch,
until last year seen as heir apparent to his father Rupert's media empire,
James said he would step down from the British pay-TV company where he made his
name as a talented executive in his own right.
"I am aware that my
role as Chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my
resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events
at a separate organization," Murdoch said.
The 39-year-old is a
previous chairman of News International, News Corp's British newspaper arm that
published the News of the World tabloid at the heart of the scandal. News of
the World was shut down last year.
"As attention continues
to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the
interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of
this company," Murdoch wrote in a letter to the BSkyB board.
The youngest son of Rupert
had long held off the demands for him to step down at BSkyB, where he earlier
overcame allegations of nepotism to prove his critics wrong with an assured
four years as chief executive (2003 to 2007) and an expansion of the business.
James Murdoch's conduct now,
however, is under scrutiny by a powerful parliamentary committee that is
expected to deliver a critical report in the coming weeks, as well as by the UK
TV regulator and a judge-led inquiry into press ethics.
The regulator, Ofcom, has
been investigating whether BSkyB is a suitable owner of a broadcast license
given its close relationship with Murdoch and its 39 percent owner News Corp.
"We continue to gather
evidence which may assist us in assessing whether BSkyB is and remains fit and
proper to continue to hold its broadcast licenses," a spokesman said.
Murdoch arrived at News
International after the phone-hacking had died down but has been criticized for
failing to uncover the scale of the wrongdoing.
He will remain on the BSkyB
board and will be replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, who was previously
deputy chairman and senior non-executive director.
While people close to the
company said News Corp remains "fully committed" to James Murdoch's
role with the company, this latest resignation will raise questions about his
future at the New York-based company he has long been expected to run when his
father Rupert, 81, steps down.
A person familiar with the
company summed up James' reputation in the U.S. as "shaky" and said
that in his opinion, News Corp President Chase Carey should be made CEO.
"Rupert would
definitely like to have one of his kids run the company, but the best-laid
plans go awry."
The problem for James
Murdoch has been the unpredictability and the scale of the new information that
has come out of internal and external inquiries into the phone-hacking issues.
When it comes to the
investigation "more stuff keeps popping up" and "I have no idea
where this investigation is going to lead," said the person.
Investors and analysts
welcomed James Murdoch's resignation, although they said they had no complaints
about Murdoch's conduct at BSkyB. Shares in BSkyB were largely unaffected,
closing down 0.8 percent and broadly in line with the FTSE 100 Index.
"He's stepped aside to
ensure that his personal issues are no longer issues that could affect
BSkyB," said Cato Stonex, partner at Taube, Hodson and Stonex, a top 15 Sky
investor.
"I have said before
that if he was no longer considered to be a fit and proper person, then he
could no longer be a director. This is a sort of halfway house. It is a pity
but I can understand why he has done it."
Thomas Eagan, a U.S.-based
analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said: "I think it makes it easier for News
Corp to pass the fit and proper test and it is a gesture made by Sky and News
Corp for them to keep their license."
Rupert Murdoch and News Corp
Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said they were grateful for James's
leadership of BSkyB. "He has played a major role in propelling the company
into the market-leading position it enjoys today," their statement said.
A source close to the
company said James would retain his position on the News Corp board, although
other News Corp executives have suggested he will struggle to take over the top
job, and indicated the focus could turn to his sister Elisabeth.
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS
After long denying that
phone-hacking was institutionalized at the News of the World, the tabloid
eventually admitted last year it had hacked into the phones of a murdered
schoolgirl and British war dead as well as politicians and celebrities in its
search for ever more-sensational front-page stories.
The affair rocked the
British newspaper establishment, politicians and police, as links were exposed
between the powerful Murdoch press, Prime Minister David Cameron and senior
police officers, two of whom resigned.
Cameron was forced to accept
the resignation of his spokesman, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, and
was cornered by opposition leaders newly emboldened to challenge Rupert
Murdoch's long-established influence over the government.
James Murdoch has continued
to plead his innocence but the investigations have hurt his chances of
inheriting his father's media empire, once thought to be his for the taking.
"You've got to see
whether he can really seal himself off from any further criticism," said
media commentator Roy Greenslade, a former Murdoch editor, adding that
investigations by U.S.
authorities would be key.
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation has been looking into News Corp practices. To date, its
investigation has found no evidence of phone hacking or other questionable
reporting practices inside the U.S.,
a law enforcement source said on Tuesday. The source said an investigation into
possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S.
companies from bribing foreigners, is continuing.
As well as an investigation
into phone-hacking, British police are also probing allegations of bribery and
computer hacking by News International.
Murdoch, who was previously
chief executive of BSkyB, was dealt a heavy blow in November when more than 40
percent of the company's independent shareholders failed to back his
re-election as chairman.
Since then he has stood down
from his board positions at News Corp's British newspaper arm, as well as from
the boards of other companies, and moved to the United States to take up his new
role running international pay-TV.
Greenslade said the multiple
investigations into News International and its executives, with both James and
Rupert Murdoch expected to be hauled in front of a judge-led inquiry in the
coming weeks, had likely prompted James's departure.
"I do think the Leveson
inquiry, Commons Select Committee report and the Ofcom fit and proper test are
a triple whammy. He really must have known it was better to go sooner rather
than later," he said.
The chairman of the
parliamentary select committee, John Whittingdale, told Reuters that James
Murdoch had not seen its forthcoming report.
"We have not given wind
to anybody of what might be in the report," he said, adding that the
removal of Murdoch as chairman of BSkyB would allow the successful pay-TV group
to distance itself from the wider problems at News Corp.
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