Murdoch's Political Donations Prompt Investor Protest
News Corp's political donations prompt investor protest
F&C, the UK fund manager, plans to vote against the re-election of the chairman of News Corp's audit committee in protest at political donations the media company has made in the US.
The protest was sparked by Rupert Murdoch's decision to donate $1m to the US Chambers of Commerce
"We are concerned to see the company deploy shareholder funds for activities that are best left to those individuals whose views they reflect and are not obviously a matter for the company," said Karina Litvack, head of governance and sustainable development at F&C.
The protest was sparked by the decision of News Corp founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch to donate $1m (623,000GBP) to the US Chambers of Commerce, which typically uses funds to campaign for Republican candidates.
News Corp, owner of The Sun and Times newspapers in Britain, gave the same amount to the Republican Governors Association in August.
American voters go to the polls in key Congressional
elections on November 2. In the US, News Corp owns Fox News, whose broadcasters are often critical of President Obama's administration.
News Corp has said that it donates to groups that have "a pro-business agenda, and support our priorities at this most critical time for our economy."
Ms Litvack said that there needs to be a process in place to ensure that any political donations are in the interest of shareholders. "There is no evidence of a political contributions policy or process at News Corp - and the board does not have an explicit oversight role," she added.
F&C is believed to have targeted its protest around the re-election of Sir Rod Eddington as chairman of News Corp's audit board at Thursday's annual general meeting because it believes the committee should be overseeing donations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector
/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/8062938/News-Corps-political-donations-prompt-investor-protest.html
No comments:
Post a Comment