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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Murdock shares suffering in Australia

The Australian-listed shares of Rupert Murdock’s News Corp have dived by nearly eight percent since the British News of the World was felled.

Dogged by the failure of the tabloid following the phone-hacking scandal, pressure is piling on the Murdock media empire.

News Limited chairman John Hartigan protested that “Some media outlets, certain commentators and some politicians have attempted to connect the behaviour in the UK with News Limited’s conduct in Australia,” despite lack of evidence.

“This is offensive and wrong,” he declared. A “thorough review of all editorial expenditure over the past 3 years” would be conducted “to confirm that payments to contributors and other third parties were for legitimate services.”

He felt positive that the result would clear all suspicion. “I have absolutely no reason to suspect any wrongdoing at News Limited,” he asserted.

Maybe so. News Corps’s Australian stock ended up at $14.74 on Wednesday. But who is buying?

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