Murdoch's Board Stays Silent as Scandal Widens Murdoch Minus the Internet Reflections of a Newsosaur Murdoch scandal staining rest 2011

While the world eagerly anticipates the next revelation in the Murdoch/News International phone hacking scandal -- Which power-broker is teetering on the brink? How far do the tentacles of corruption spread? -- in terms of the Internet, the big event

While the world eagerly anticipates the next revelation in the Murdoch/News International phone hacking scandal -- Which power-broker is teetering on the brink? How far do the tentacles of corruption spread? -- in terms of the Internet, the big event

A former News Of The World show business reporter who said that Andy Coulson personally encouraged phone hacking when he was editor was found dead at home the Guardian reports. The paper says that police are treating the death of Sean Hoare as "unexplained" but "not suspicious," suggesting that it may have been a suicide. Hoare made his charges against Coulson, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman, to The New York Times last year for a magazine story about the phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper. He was quoted as saying that Coulson “actively encouraged me" to hack into other people's cell phone messages. At the time, Coulson responded that he "never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place." NOTW Managing Editor Bill Akass told The Times "we reject absolutely" that the paper's higher-ups approved hacking and accused the paper of running a story based on “unsubstantiated claims” -- in part to run down a competitor.

But last week Hoare told The Times that "the chain of command is one of absolute discipline and that's why I never bought into it, like with Andy saying he wasn't aware of it and all that. That's bollocks." He added: "There's more to come. This is not going to go away...what you'll find now is a lot of people are going to want to cover their arse
Murdoch scandal staining rest of media. Like an unchecked oil spill, the toxic and oozing News Corp. scandal is staining the already less than stellar image of the rest of the press, too. On my semi-annual visit to friends and family in

The board of the News Corporation might as well be named "Friends of Rupert."

The independent directors - who have a fiduciary responsibility to the company's shareholders - have remained silent amid the widening scandal at Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Despite multiple arrests stemming from the phone hacking accusations so far, not one independent board member has made a statement denouncing the company's dubious activities. Not one has publicly called for the resignation of top officials at the company. And not one has pushed for an outside investigation, although the company has started its own.

"This is a board that qualifies for an 'F' in every category," Nell Minow, a member of the board of GovernanceMetrics International and founder of the Corporate Library, a governance firm, said without any hesitation. "It is the ultimate crony board."

A spokeswoman for the News Corporation declined to comment.

Given the Murdochs' tight rule over the company, crossing the family might seem futile. In reality, its directors serve at the pleasure of Mr. Murdoch, since the company was purposely set up with a dual-class stock structure that gives him 38 percent of the votes. (The New York Times Company also has two classes of shares.) Legally at least, the News Corporation directors are supposed to serve the interests of all shareholders.

Of the 16 board members, nine are technically considered independent. But few would truly qualify under any definition of good corporate governance