A huge effort is now going on at News Corporation and in government to keep the phone hacking scandal and the proposed full takeover of BSkyB in different boxes.
The argument is that whatever went wrong at one tabloid title controlled by the UK offshoot of News Corporation should not impinge on another part of the media empire created by Rupert Murdoch.
The problem is that when it comes to corporate governance, the Murdoch empire makes its own rules.
Even if one is prepared to give Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, the benefit of the doubt in that she knew nothing of the alleged News of the World phone tapping, there is much which goes on inside the News Corp empire that does not conform to best practice.
There is no doubt that Rupert Murdoch has built a formidable fiefdom.
The creation of Fox in the United States, as a new force in network television, and BSkyB in Britain, has been a triumph of willpower, skill and investment.
But the handling of the phone tapping scandal, the failure to take it seriously and, at the very least, suspend if not sack anyone tainted with what happened, shows a serious lack of judgement.
It raises questions about the group’s fitness to take control of the 60pc of BSkyB which it doesn’t own, and why the government, in the shape of Jeremy Hunt, has bent over backwards to find ways of getting the deal through the regulatory authorities, Ofcom and the OFT.
We should not, however, be that surprised by News Corporation’s lack of governance.
It has always acted in the best interests of the proprietors, rather than the minority shareholders, although in some cases, including BSkyB, everyone has been a winner.
But it is hard to condone some of the actions which have taken place.
By any standards, the purchase price paid for Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, was too high.
The WSJ paper may be a better paper as a result, and a genuine competitor to the New York Times, but holders of News Corp shares suffered dilution.
Similarly, the in-house purchase of Elisabeth Murdoch’s production house Shine was far too cosy for comfort, and the price paid out of line with the sector.
The effort to buy Sky on the cheap was also awkward and forced the independent directors, led by Allan Leighton and Nicholas Ferguson, to draw red lines. These included asking chairman James Murdoch to recuse himself.
The latest tactic, as permission for the bid to go ahead has moved closer, is for News Corporation to quietly indicate that the City’s judgement on the broadcaster is wrong, the future is not quite so bright as has been painted, and the idea that the company might be worth £10 to £11 a share is preposterous.
But the real issue is one of stewardship. Is the governance of News Corporation, and its offshoot News International, robust enough for empire to be given full control of Britain’s dominant satellite broadcaster?
Are the arrangements for hiving off Sky News into a separate enterprise strong enough to ensure it keeps broadcasting and remains at arm length from its former parent?
And most important of all, would an organisation, which owns so much of the UK’s media market, distort a competitive marketplace.
These are all critical issues and ought to be decided by an independent adjudicator, the Competition Commission, not in private talks with the government.
Tax break
If the right amount of pressure is applied it is possible to get government to recognise its errors. The budget decision by George Osborne to raise the tax on North Sea oil producers from 20pc to 32pc was never going to be fully reversed.
But plainly the decision of several companies, including Norway’s Statoil, to suspend production was not the outcome the government was looking for.
It has now found a way of giving back some support by improving the allowances for tax losses, and the drills are already being switched back on.
This may not be a full blooded U-turn but it demonstrates what can be achieved by tough lobbying.
Dumping ground
Tom Drury, departing chief executive of waste disposal firm Shanks, should feel right at home at his new employers Arrow Global.
His new employer makes money from debt recovery and is controlled by the RBS Special Opportunities Fund.
So he is graduating from the kind of rubbish which we dump outside our doors, to the kind of rubbish which the bankers have dumped on us all.
The argument is that whatever went wrong at one tabloid title controlled by the UK offshoot of News Corporation should not impinge on another part of the media empire created by Rupert Murdoch.
The problem is that when it comes to corporate governance, the Murdoch empire makes its own rules.
Even if one is prepared to give Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, the benefit of the doubt in that she knew nothing of the alleged News of the World phone tapping, there is much which goes on inside the News Corp empire that does not conform to best practice.
There is no doubt that Rupert Murdoch has built a formidable fiefdom.
The creation of Fox in the United States, as a new force in network television, and BSkyB in Britain, has been a triumph of willpower, skill and investment.
But the handling of the phone tapping scandal, the failure to take it seriously and, at the very least, suspend if not sack anyone tainted with what happened, shows a serious lack of judgement.
It raises questions about the group’s fitness to take control of the 60pc of BSkyB which it doesn’t own, and why the government, in the shape of Jeremy Hunt, has bent over backwards to find ways of getting the deal through the regulatory authorities, Ofcom and the OFT.
We should not, however, be that surprised by News Corporation’s lack of governance.
It has always acted in the best interests of the proprietors, rather than the minority shareholders, although in some cases, including BSkyB, everyone has been a winner.
But it is hard to condone some of the actions which have taken place.
By any standards, the purchase price paid for Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, was too high.
The WSJ paper may be a better paper as a result, and a genuine competitor to the New York Times, but holders of News Corp shares suffered dilution.
Similarly, the in-house purchase of Elisabeth Murdoch’s production house Shine was far too cosy for comfort, and the price paid out of line with the sector.
The latest tactic, as permission for the bid to go ahead has moved closer, is for News Corporation to quietly indicate that the City’s judgement on the broadcaster is wrong, the future is not quite so bright as has been painted, and the idea that the company might be worth £10 to £11 a share is preposterous.
But the real issue is one of stewardship. Is the governance of News Corporation, and its offshoot News International, robust enough for empire to be given full control of Britain’s dominant satellite broadcaster?
Are the arrangements for hiving off Sky News into a separate enterprise strong enough to ensure it keeps broadcasting and remains at arm length from its former parent?
And most important of all, would an organisation, which owns so much of the UK’s media market, distort a competitive marketplace.
These are all critical issues and ought to be decided by an independent adjudicator, the Competition Commission, not in private talks with the government.
Tax break
If the right amount of pressure is applied it is possible to get government to recognise its errors. The budget decision by George Osborne to raise the tax on North Sea oil producers from 20pc to 32pc was never going to be fully reversed.
But plainly the decision of several companies, including Norway’s Statoil, to suspend production was not the outcome the government was looking for.
It has now found a way of giving back some support by improving the allowances for tax losses, and the drills are already being switched back on.
This may not be a full blooded U-turn but it demonstrates what can be achieved by tough lobbying.
Dumping ground
Tom Drury, departing chief executive of waste disposal firm Shanks, should feel right at home at his new employers Arrow Global.
His new employer makes money from debt recovery and is controlled by the RBS Special Opportunities Fund.
So he is graduating from the kind of rubbish which we dump outside our doors, to the kind of rubbish which the bankers have dumped on us all.
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