shareholders

U.S. shareholders of News Corp are not happy at all over the Murdoch empires handling of the phone hacking scandal.

Shareholders called it "inconceivable" that directors were not aware sooner of the questionable news practices that led to the closure of the News of the World tabloid, given that news of the hackings first surfaced in 2005.

This, the shareholders said, reflects a board that "provides no effective review or oversight," in a corporate culture "run amuck," according to the amended complaint dated July 8 and filed in Delaware Chancery Court. Lawyers for the shareholders provided a copy of the complaint on Monday.

I believe this story is as much about politics as it is media. For years the left has accused Fox and their parent company, News Corp, of engaging in questionable practices, yet the Fox defenders on the right would instantly denounce those claims as some conspiracy theory. Now as Murdoch's British empire crumbles in a wrath of corruption and illegal activities, maybe we can start looking more closely at exactly what is happening here in the U.S.

If I were a shareholder of a corporation and heard news that the corporation paid a CEO $14 million to be fired (this is what the Gap just did), my stock would instantly be sold. Sadly this is something we hear about more and more.

Luckily we have a Democratically controlled Congress, and one Representative Barney Franks who now chairs the House Financial Services Committee, to try and make changes to this horrible system. Rep. Franks was on FOX news a few weeks ago trying to explain how he wants to put more power in the hands of the shareholders. Of course Neil Cuvato wouldn't here of anything like that:

Cuvato constantly tried to reword what Frank's was saying and making it out like Barney was trying to hurt the poor little CEO's.

This country has taken a very damaging turn in terms of economic fairness. In 1980, the average CEO earned 42 times what the average employee in his company made. Today he earns more than 300 times (more than a 600% increase). This dangerous practice is quickly creating a larger gap between America's working class and upper class.