Shareholders rebuke Murdoch in Los Angeles

MurdochWavering between penitence and irritation, News Corp. chairman-CEO Rupert Murdoch tried to strike a balance Friday at the conglom's annual shareholders' meeting as investors grilled him on corporate governance and urged changes to the company's board.Shareholders voted on a resolution brought by Christian Brothers Investment Services to replace Murdoch as chairman with an independent director, but News Corp. didn't immediately release the results. The tally was expected be released later today.Murdoch emphasized in his statements that the conglom was doing well and poised for continued success in the future. Not all shareholders agreed and many expressed their frustration at the company's management and its returns."You've been treating us like mushrooms for a long time,'' said Stephen Mayne, director of the Australian Shareholders Assn. during sometimes amused, sometimes heated exchanges with Murdoch in the half-dozen times he approached the microphone.Shareholders have criticized the company's corporate governance, saying lax oversight by a board with too many ties to the Murdoch family may have contributed to a hacking scandal that engulfed the company last summer. "I promise you we will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of this and put it right,'' Murdoch said.Murdoch offered blanket reassurances of the company's profitability and stressed that the corporation's media properties remained strong."In the era of expanding digital consumption, our content libraries are fast becoming treasure troves,'' he said. The Zanuck Theater on the Fox lot was full and the mood was tense.British MP Tom Watson brought up potential new allegations of computer hacking but Murdoch said he was unaware of them."I find it inconceivable that a company of this size does not know things that I know,'' Watson responded. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com