Image: Esther Dyson/Flickr (Creative Commons)
According to a London newspaper, Chief Executive of News Corporation’s UK arm, News International, James Murdoch has resigned as a directors of the two companies that publishes News Corporation’s papers in the UK.
Murdoch has, according to the London Evening Standard based on corporate filings, stepped down from the boards of News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun; and Times Newspapers Limited, who owns The Times and the Sunday Times.
His resignation however does not mean he is leaving his current role in News International, which owns the two companies. He also remains a director in the editorial board for the Times, which maintain its editorial line, and as chairman of BSkyB – the satellite broadcaster that News Corporation wanted to acquire.
As The Next Web points out, the move has meant that there is no Murdoch on the boards of any UK newspaper. Some are even speculating that News Corporation may be forced to sell their newspapers in the UK due to the constant fallout of the phone hacking scandal. In addition, the fallout has seen more anger from its shareholders. The ABC’s Inside Business reported that there was growing dissent in its annual general shareholders meeting in October.
The likelihood of the Murdochs, however, being forced out of the company will most likely not happen. Due to some complex arrangement, the family owns 39 percent of voting stock despite owning 12 percent of the company. This effectively gives it some veto power.
Despite this, the phone hacking scandal still continues with more and more cases of wrongdoing. It appears to be a bottomless pit of scandal, with no end in sight in the near future for News Corporation.