News and Corporate Governance : What Dow Jones and Reuters Teach Us About Stewardship

Corporate governance in the media faces an intractable problem. There is an important public interest in the integrity of news, which is the lifeblood of an open society. Yet the shareholder value model of governance offers no guarantee that the integrity of news will be protected. Indeed, conflicts of interest abound in a business where dominant CEOs often put their own private interests before those of other shareholders, reflecting the principal/agent problem, as well as before those of society. In this paper Donald Nordberg, a former senior editorial executive at Reuters who also worked as a consultant for Dow Jones, explores the respective governance of these two media giants, which received bids last year respectively from Thomson Corp of Canada and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The perception that Rupert Murdoch had given in to pressure from the Beijing government to drop news channels from his company's television transmissions into China raised the issue of conflicts of interest very starkly for executives and journalists on the Wall Street Journal, the crown jewel of the Dow Jones group.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2007-12
Subjects:	ACQUISITION, ADVISORY GROUP, AGENCY PROBLEM, AGENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS, BANKRUPTCY, BANKS, BEST DEAL, BEST PRACTICES, BID, BIDS, BOARDS OF DIRECTORS, BOND, BOND PRICES, BROKERS, BUSINESS PRACTICES, BUSINESS SCHOOL, BUYER, CAPITAL GAIN, CAPITAL MARKETS, CAPITAL STRUCTURE, CASH FLOW, CEO, CEOS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CODE OF CONDUCT, CODES OF CONDUCT, COLLATERAL, COLLECTIVE, COMMODITY, COMMODITY PRICES, COMPANY LAW, COMPETITIVE MARKET, COMPETITORS, COMPUTER TERMINALS, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, CONTRIBUTION, COOPERATIVES, CORP., CORPORATE CONTROL, CORPORATE EXECUTIVE, CORPORATE FAILURES, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, CORPORATE LAWYERS, CORPORATE STRUCTURES, CORPORATION, CORPORATIONS, COST OF CAPITAL, CREDIBILITY, DELAWARE, DEMOCRACY, DERIVATIVE, DOMESTIC COMPANY, ECONOMIC REFORM, EXPANSION, FAMILY MEMBER, FINANCE CORPORATION, FINANCES, FINANCIAL ASSETS, FINANCIAL COMMUNITY, FINANCIAL CRISES, FINANCIAL DATA, FINANCIAL INFORMATION, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FRANCHISE, GLOBAL CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, GOVERNANCE MEASURES, GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS, GOVERNMENT AID, GOVERNMENT POLICY, GUARANTORS, HEDGE FUNDS, HOLDING, HOLDING COMPANY, HOSTILE BIDDERS, HOSTILE TAKEOVER, HOSTILE TAKEOVERS, INCOME, INDIVIDUALS, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS, INSURANCE, INSURANCE COMPANIES, INSURANCE COMPANY, INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS, INVESTMENT INSTITUTIONS, INVESTOR RELATIONS, JOB LOSSES, JOINT VENTURE, LEVEL OF COMMITMENT, LISTED COMPANIES, LOW-INCOME, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, MAJORITY OF VOTES, MANAGERS, MARKET COMPETITION, MARKET SHARE, MARKETING, MERGER, MIDDLE EAST, MISMANAGEMENT, MUTUAL FUNDS, OUTSIDE INVESTORS, PARTY, PENSION, PENSION FUNDS, PENSION SYSTEMS, PERSONAL PROPERTY, PRIVATE COMPANY, PRIVATE EQUITY, PUBLIC COMPANIES, PUBLIC COMPANY, REGULATORS, REGULATORY SCRUTINY, REPUTATION, RETIRED, RETURN, RIGHTS OF SHAREHOLDERS, RISK MANAGEMENT, SALE, SALES, SENIOR, SHARE PRICE, SHARE PRICES, SHAREHOLDER, SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS, SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE, SHAREHOLDER VALUE, SHAREHOLDERS, SOCIAL VALUE, SOCIETY, SPONSORS, STAKEHOLDER, STOCK EXCHANGE, STOCK EXCHANGES, STOCK MARKET, STOCK MARKET INDEX, STOCK PRICES, STOCKHOLDER, STOCKS, STORE, SUBSIDIARY, SUPPLIER, SUPPLIERS, TAX, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRADE UNION, TRADE UNIONS, TRADING, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSPARENCY, TRUST FUND, TRUSTEES, VALUABLE, WORTH,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/12/9432093/news-corporate-governance-dow-jones-reuters-teach-stewardship https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11160
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!