News Corporation Shareholders Rebel Against Company’s Political Donations

ByGeorge Zornick In August, News Corporation — the media company owned by right-wing tycoon Rupert Murdoch and the operator of Fox News — gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. Several weeks later, it donated another $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

When asked about the RGA donation, Rupert Murdoch explained: “It had nothing to do with Fox News. The RGA [gift] was actually [a result of] my friendship with John Kasich.” As ThinkProgress’ Ian Millhiser reported, there are laws against corporate managers treating a publicly-traded corporation as if it were their own personal bank account. The Supreme Court in Delaware, where News Corp. is incorporated, has made it clear that “[c]orporate officers and directors are not permitted to use their position of trust and confidence to further their private interests.”

Now, shareholders may be taking notice of the potential illegality outlined by Millhiser. The New York Times reported today that The Nathan Cummings Foundation, a shareholder of News Corp., wrote a letter to the company’s board objecting to the company’s political donations, and warned against the use of “corporate treasury funds to further the personal political agendas of corporate management.” This afternoon, Media Matters obtained a statement from another investor, F&C Investments, which says it will oppose the re-election of the Chairman of the Audit Committee at News Corp.’s annual meeting this Friday in response to the donation controversy. F&C says it, too, is concerned about shareholder money being used to further the political goals of “individuals” within the company:

In response to recent media reports that News Corp. has used shareholder funds to make two $1 million contributions to election-related activity in the United States, F&C has opposed the re-election of the Chairman of the Audit Committee at the upcoming annual meeting this Friday.

“We are concerned to see the company deploy shareholder funds for activities that are best left to the individuals whose views they reflect and are not obviously a business matter for the company,” said Karina Litvack, Head of Governance and Sustainable Investment at F&C. “While it is perfectly reasonable for companies to engage in policy debate on specific matters that affect their business, there needs to be a clear and transparent process to ensure that such activities serve the interests 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.”

Murdoch may not understand the potential illegality involved with handing out political donations to advance his personal agenda — but apparently his shareholders do.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation Donates Again To The Republican Governors Association: $250,000

By Lee Fang In June, Fox News’ parent company News Corporation gave a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. This evening, IRS disclosures reveal that News Corporation gave another check, time for $250,000, bringing his total donation amount to $1,250,000. Other donors include Bill Koch, who donated $100,000, Swift Boat-funder Bob Perry, who gave $3.5 million, and right-wing casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who gave $1 million to the Republican campaign group.

News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch recently stated that he directed his company’s donation in order to help his friend John Kasich, the Republican nominee for governor in Ohio. As ThinkProgress’ Ian Millhiser noted, there actually are laws against corporate managers treating a publicly-traded corporation as if it were their own personal bank account. Although News Corporation was founded in Australia, it was recently reincorporated in Delaware and thus must comply with key Delaware court decisions. Significantly, the Delaware Supreme Court determined over 70 years ago that “[c]orporate officers and directors are not permitted to use their position of trust and confidence to further their private interests.”

Snyder supports transparency unless if effects him

By C.Guru Despite the con Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder” has spent millions of dollars he earned outsourcing American jobs putting over on Michigan voters that has is not a career politician or he is not practicing politics as usual, the flap over the attacks on his behalf by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) proves otherwise. The RGA - which has received a $1millon donation from that News Corp., which owns Faux “News” and millions of foreign money from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – has been running false attack ads against Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero, allowing the outsourcer to keep his hands clean and claim he is above the fray and save his campaign cash. In fact, the Outsourcer has not paid for a single commercial since the primary election. Earlier this week Rich Robinson, the director of the non-profit Michigan Campaign Finance Network, uncovered information that the RGA has been "bullying" Michigan television stations into not revealing to the public the size of their substantial ad buys. The one TV station that did stand up to them and released the info to Robinson was cut off from the millions in ads money for doing so. In a story in today’s edition of Gongwer, Snyder claims that “he cannot stop the Republican Governors Association's efforts to push Michigan television stations not to release information about the size of the organization's ad buys, yet in the same breath he claims he supports transparency. “I'm always in favor of more transparency and disclosure," the Outsourcer told Gongwer. What he really means is he is in favor of more transparency and disclosure unless it affects him. Is that the height of hypocrisy? You will recall that the Outsourcer chickened out of the Republican debates during the primary after he was criticized by fellow Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox on his record of outsourcing jobs while at Gateway. Because he had no defense for that, he ducked out of the remaining debates and instead held staged townhall meetings in front of friendly crowds, using the lame and false excuse that he is “above the fray of politics as usual.” He is using the same tactic in the General election, and he is only allowing one single debate with Bernero next Sunday, between NFL Football and the Major League Baseball playoffs. He is also trying to limit the audience as well as only allowing one debate. It’s politics as usual with the Outsourcer, and he has proven that he is not capable of running anything.

Could News Corp’s $1 Million Donation Be Legal Trouble For CEO Rupert Murdoch?

By Ian Millhiser An offhand comment by right-wing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch could land him in hot water with his company’s shareholders. Last June, News Corporation, which Murdoch leads, gave a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. Yet in a recent interview, Murdoch claimed that News Corp. made this donation solely because of Murdoch’s personal friendship with a GOP gubernatorial candidate:

Murdoch, who was in Washington to receive an award from The Media Institute, brushed aside concerns that the gift, which was unusually large and one-sided for a media company, might hurt Fox’s credibility as a news organization that reports on politics.

“It doesn’t reflect on Fox News,” he said. “It had nothing to do with Fox News. The RGA [gift] was actually [a result of] my friendship with John Kasich.”

Unfortunately for Murdoch, there actually are laws against corporate managers treating a publicly-traded corporation as if it were their own personal bank account. Although News Corp. was founded in Australia, it was recently reincorporated in Delaware and thus must comply with key Delaware court decisions. Significantly, the Delaware Supreme Court determined over 70 years ago that “[c]orporate officers and directors are not permitted to use their position of trust and confidence to further their private interests.”

There are some bright lights for Murdoch. Although the law permits a News Corp. shareholder to challenge Murdoch’s actions in court, these kinds of lawsuits are notoriously difficult to win, so the Delaware courts could ultimately side with Murdoch. Then again, it’s also not every day that a corporate CEO openly admits that he distributed a million dollars from his company’s treasury solely because of a personal friendship.

Just as significantly, even if such a shareholder lawsuit were to succeed, Murdoch would likely only be required to reimburse News Corp. for the $1 million donation — a pittance for a multi-billionaire like Rupert Murdoch.

Republican PAC attacking Bernero is bullying TV stations into silence

by: Communications Guru via blogging for Michigan/The Conservative Media

Rich Robinson, the director of the non-profit Michigan Campaign Finance Network, says the Republican Governors Association (RGA) has been "bullying" Michigan television stations into not revealing to the public the size of their substantial ad buys, according to a story in subscription only MIRS.

The RGA has been doing the dirty work for Rick "Chief Executive Outsourcer" Snyder" by running baseless attack ads against Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero. This allows the Outsourcer to not only keep his millions, but more importantly, it allows him to keep up the lie that his candidacy is not politics as usual and keeps his hands clean.

The current ad the RGA is running almost non-stop is a cheap knockoff of the well known MasterCard "Priceless" ads, but the problem is MIRS already debunked it.

News Corp., which owns Faux "News, recently gave the Republican Governors Association (RGA) $1 million to run these attack ads. Not only that, the RGA has spent more money in Michigan than any other PAC in 2010, with $4 million raised.

Robinson, who routinely compiles how much money is spent on TV ads, said the RGA does not want stations to let the public know how much they are spending, and they are punishing those that dare to be transparent. Surprisingly, Robinson said the Michigan campaign finance laws do not require that TV and radio stations make the ad buys public. However, that's not the case at the federal level.

"They (RGA) are really trying to control the dimensions of the screen," Robinson told MIRS. "A lot of (the TV stations) are caving in. The one exception I've noticed is WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids. WOOD wouldn't take their money. But others have caved. It pits the public's right to know against the station's responsibilities to its stockholders."

Just one more reason not to trust the Outsourcer.

Does News Corp’s Donation To The Republican Governors Association Violate Its Own Company Policy?

By Amanda Terkel Yesterday, Bloomberg News reported that News Corp., the Fox News parent company run by Rupert Murdoch, donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) in June. As Politico’s Ben Smith noted, “The company’s media outlets play politics more openly than most, but the huge contribution to a party committee is a new step toward an open identification between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the GOP.”

A look at News Corp’s own “Standards of Business Conduct,” however, raises questions about whether the $1 million contribution to the RGA violations company policy:

B. Dealing With Government Officials

Employees who have dealings with government officials shall conform to the following standards:

1. All employees who contact public officials must be familiar with the applicable lobbying laws and public disclosure requirements, particularly those laws or regulations pertaining to registrations or filings that must be made by the Company.

2. No payment shall be made to, or for the benefit of, any public official in order to induce or entice such official to: enact, defeat or violate any law or regulation for the Company’s benefit; influence any official act; or obtain any favorable action by a governmental agency or official on behalf of the Company.

3. Social amenities, entertainment and other courtesies may be extended to government officials or employees only to the extent appropriate and reasonable under applicable laws and customs. Gifts of greater than nominal value to, or lavish entertainment of, public officials are prohibited. No gifts in the form of cash, stock or other similar consideration shall be given, regardless of amount. Any gift about which an employee is uncertain should not be made without the prior written approval of the Company’s General Counsel. Any expenses incurred by a Company employee in connection with the matters discussed herein shall be accurately recorded on the Company’s books and records.

What’s not totally clear is the intent of News Corp’s donation. Was it to “induce or entice” a public official to “enact, defeat or violate any law or regulation for the Company’s benefit”? The only public response from the company so far comes from spokesman Jack Horner, who said, “News Corporation believes in the power of free markets, and the RGA’s pro-business agenda supports our priorities at this most critical time for our economy.”

The Democratic Governors Association told ThinkProgress that it has not received any donations from News Corp.

Update Dow Jones, a News Corp. company, prohibits company political contributions:

Many companies, for a variety of reasons, participate in the partisan political process, at various levels of government. As a publisher, Dow Jones has a different tradition. Dow Jones does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to political campaigns or to political parties or groups seeking to raise money for political campaigns or parties, and Dow Jones does not and will not reimburse any employee for any political contribution made by an employee. All news employees and members of senior management with any responsibility for news should refrain from partisan political activity judged newsworthy by their senior editor or in the case of senior management, the Chief Executive Officer. Other political activities (including "issue oriented" activity) are permitted, but should not be inconsistent with this code.

Update Time Warner has given the DGA $35,000 and the RGA $25,000. Both organizations have received $105,000 from GE (the parent company of MSNBC).

Update The Washington Post reports, "A seven-figure donation is not a first for Murdoch; he gave $1 million to the California Republican Party in 1996."