Corporate Responsibility

Corporate responsibility dealings describe corporate initiatives that range from philanthropy, to legal compliance to social and environmental programs. Corporate responsibility also deals with adhering and administrating codes of conduct and transparency of information. Further, corporate responsibility stresses embracing critiques of company dealings in order to improve the creditability of News Corp seen by the general public and its stakeholders.

News Corporation in particular makes a very strong effort to promote the company's sustainable practices. On its Web site, a whole alternative web page is dedicated toward their global energy initiatives.  This includes a code of conduct which stresses the application of the "long term-vision" that News Corp has for their green practices including: 

• Growing our business without growing our carbon footprint.
• Powering our operations with clean electricity.
• Minimizing solid waste to landfill from our production operations.
• Engage our readers, viewers and customers on sustainability issues through partnerships and content of the highest caliber. 

Being careful not to "green wash" and just state these efforts, News Corp has vivid examples and pictures of these dealings on their blog, such as the picture below showing employees using recycling methods at work. 

News Corps Web page also helps to show viewers that the company not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. For example with the press release stating the introduction of the first ever iPad news publication to diminish news paper intake. Additionally, News Corp owned Fox TV show, 24,announced it was the first TV show to go carbon neutral. Production offices installed light motion monitors in bathrooms and offices in addition to cutting 940 metric tons of carbon dioxide from renewable energy sources. In order to add more credibility to these efforts, the carbon citations passed the standards of the World Resource Institute's Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This certification and verification by an independent third party shows that News Corp's efforts are being monitored to insure that the media conglomerate is doing its job.

 News Corp C.E.O. Rupert Murdoch also has responded to critics of their greening efforts who claim that Fox News provides news coverage that denies a climate change/global warming due to the right-sided nature the Fox company acquires and yet the company is participating in the left-winged practices of preventing global warming. Instead of ignoring the issue, Murdoch responded saying, "the point of this disparity has never been to get into a discussion around the politics of climate change but it's just been about creating and running an efficient company," thus opening discussion up with critics instead of closing them out which another important aspect of corporate responsibility.

Some philanthropic involvement of News Corp includes a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association which also stirred some controversy for being such an openly right-sided affair. Yet as a whole, News Corp does an excellent job in making sure that they show they care for all their clients, the environment, and that they are a responsible organization who wants their image in the media by integrating all of these efforts on the transparent Web page. Something that all companies who embrace corporate responsibility should strive to achieve. 

Crisis Communications

We've all at one point gotten ourselves into an unfavorable situation that places our reputation at stake. Corporations being no exclusion to these situations need to act abruptly in order to get their businesses running smoothly again. For News Corporation, this crisis was the phone-tapping scandal.

The phone-tapping scandal included 91 victims whom privacy was breached in order to receive leads on stories for British publications that News Corp. acquires. Included in the phone tap were film star Sienna Miller, former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, and football commentator Andy Gray.  The scandal came into the public eye when the UK government considering approval for News Corp to buy the remaining portion of BskyB, a UK satellite network, that News Corp did not already own. 

News Corp'.'s C.E.O. Rupert Murdoch, addressed the issue ASAP, via a press release which denied any involvement in the scandal. Denial also was Murdoch's answer in interviews such as at the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho stating, “If that had happened, I would know about it," said Murdoch. Yet his other spokespeople failed to comment when asked such as Alice MacAndrew, the spokeswoman for the International unit. The lack of cooperation between these employees shows the pushmi-pullyu symdrome, of sending mixed signals, at play. 

In fact, the company apologized and offered to pay damages to victims of the practice the same day they denied any dealings with the phone-tapping, which lead many people to suspicion. Rupert Murdoch's son, James Murdoch, who runs News Corp.’s European and Asian operations stated, “It’s how newspapers work," but who also then went on to pay $1.1million to a victim of the phone tapping by the News of the World. It is good that News Corp is taking responsibility for this situation, but if they had nothing to do with it why are they paying all the damages? Either way it's a loss for the company so the next step for the News Corp crisis team was to say that nothing has changed, and they did.

In the end, News Corp said they were not hurt as,  “The interesting thing about a reputation crisis is actually the business is doing really well...It shows what we were able to do is really put this problem into a box" said C.E.O. Rupert Murdoch. Thus with this reinforcement, the media and public can move on from the phone-tapping mishap and on to another sensationalized crisis for the moment being. 

Global Relations

News Corporation is a globally operating company. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States,  Europe, the UK, Australia, Asia and Latin America. In fact, News Corp was established  in Australia by Rupert Murdoch. The company entered into the British market in the 1960s and by the 1980s had become a dominant force in the U.S. market.  At this time, News Corporation went heavily into debt to subsidize its purchase of Twentieth Century Fox (in the U.S.) but by the mid-1990s News Corporation had eliminated much of that debt.

News Corporation selected holdings world wide include: 

• A 50 percent stake (with TCI's Liberty Media) in several U.S. and global cable networks, including fx, fxM and Fox Sports Net
• 132 newspapers (primarily in Australia, Britain and the United States, including the London Times and the New York Post), making it one of the three largest newspaper groups in the world; Other publications include the Sunday Tasmanian, The Australian, The Sunday TIMES, Zondervan. 
• Direct Broadcast Satellite Television, NEWS CORP owns…
• Italy’s most popular pay-TV company, SKY Italia.
•  British Sky Broadcastin
• Germany’s leading Sky Deutschland
• Asia’s TATA SKY
• FOXTEL in Australia and New Zealand

Most recently, in a January 10, 2011 press release, it was announced that David  Fares,  is now responsible for directing and advocating News Corporation’s positions on international media, intellectual property and e-commerce policy and regulatory issues before U.S. and foreign governments as well as international organizations.

More specifically, News Corporation deals with their global relations through Gary Ginsberg, the Chairman & Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs. Ginsberg coordinates the Company’s marketing efforts around the world such as the Global Energy Initiative which features the Earth Day Concert which travels to Rome, Berlin, and Madrid.  All proceeds benefit a variety of environmental charities. 

In addition, all headquarters around the world strive to unify through sustainability practices. This includes simple solutions like lighting and automatic PC shut-down to systemic changes like installing telepresence and videoconferencing technology to reduce the need for air travel.
Wether it be through environmentally friendly practices or through the networks that News Corp acquires, the global practices that the company is envolved in are openly displayed on their Web page and are updated frequently for anyone to read.

Investor Relations

Maintaining a positive image within the financial realm of a company is an important function of Investor Relations (IR). The IR department of News Corporation therefore devotes a large amount of its time handling inquiries from investors and shareholders regarding stocks and financial stabilities. 

The company's stocks and economies are further described in News Corp's most recent Annual Report for 2010 by chairman Rupert Murdoch. Inside this report, it is described that "full-year revenues in 2010 rose 8 percent to $32.8 billion and net income for the full year was $2.5 billion. Earnings were $0.97 per share, with a cash balance of $8.7 billion." Additionally, it is highlighted by Murdoch that various IR operations were strengthened which included: 

• "Negotiating new retransmission consent agreements with a number of cable providers which will help ensure we return to a robust U.S. broadcast television business;
• Expanding successful franchises like National Geographic Channel. This launched Nat Geo WILD and the Fox International Channels, which launched 29 channels this past year;
• Delivering on the promise of 3D with Avatar 
• Developing new economic models for digital journalism that will help us expand our brands."

Inside the 2010 fiscal year, the Annual Report also brought to attention that News Corporation acquired the 61% of BSkyB (a British and Irish public satellite broadcasting company)  that the corporation did not already own with an all-cash offer of 700 pence per share. The site also features publicly traded investments as of June 15, 2010. This includes the affects of the BSkyB buy as well as others listed here:

Company Name	Ticker Symbol	Listed Exchange	Shares (in Millions)
British Sky Broadcasting PLC	BSY	LONDON (LN)	686.0
Sky Deutschland	SkyD	GERMANY (GR)	244.9
Sky Network Television Limited	SKT	NEW ZEALAND (NZ)	169.9
Realestate.com	REA	Australia (AU)	77.3
Phoenix Satellite	2008	Hong Kong (HK)	871.0

 ©2011 News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Phoenix Satellite has greatest amount of shares invested in by News Corp with BSkyB following. Press releases reveal more current earrings of the corporation's financial earnings such the release of the 2nd Quarter Fiscal 2011 Earnings in addition to promotions of big executives. For example, the most recent release on the promotion of Julie Henderson as the new Senior Vice President of Communications and Corporate Strategy. 

Lastly,  News Corp's Annual Meeting of Stockholders was held on October 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m in New York according to this proxy posted on News Corp's Web site. At the 2010 Annual Meeting, stockholders were asked to "elect 15 Directors to the Board of Directors, ratify the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company’s public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. In addition, consider a stockholder proposal concerning the establishment of a human rights committee, a shareholder say on executive pay, and consider any other business properly brought before the Annual Meeting," as the proxy further said.  

Additionally, a voting form is also available online as well as a 10-K form, showing that formal disclosure methods are used at News Corp. This means specific business information must be filed with government regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),  on a consistent basis. Informative practices such as these are valuable tools to reinforcing News Corp's financial reputation to not only shareholders and investors, but to the general public who all can access the info on the corporation's Web page.   

Community Relations

Important to any business is maintaining a positive image in the community. Therefore, a company should take special care and not overlook the importance of becoming a "neighbor of choice". As a "neighbor of choice," large businesses such as News Corp are more likely to obtain a license to operate in and around a company's local community as they please. This could mean the building of new offices  in rural areas without having to deal with much back lash from the community. Community relations also deals with making companies seem like they're real people, who not only react to what the community needs but does so in a way that ameliorates their lives.
           Recognizing the importance of looking out for the community, News Corporation stresses its sustainable business practices, as well as its advocation for industry-wide internet safety principles.

           More specifically, carbon neutrality has been a goal for News Corp since 2008. Now 2011, News Corp C.E.O. Rupert Murdoch reports that "News Corp has become carbon neutral across all of our global operations and we are the first company of our kind to do so." In total, the company will save $20M per year and reduce data center emissions by almost 15% the site's Web page explains here. The company also uses its media outlets as a way to promote the "go green" ideology. The Home Tree Initiative, due to the partnership between Avatar and Earth Day Network, helped to plant 1 million trees in more than 15 countries. Myspace, owned by New Corp also has celebrity members' profiles "hijacked" to promote WWF's Earth Hour informing people the importance of the protecting our planet. The most recent "hijack" was Victoria's Secret supermodel Miranda Kerr, showing her role as one of the Global Ambassadors for Earth Hour. News Corp also has a separate Web site offering ways for members of the community to do their part at home in joining the green revolution. 

Other ways News Corp uses the Internet and Myspace to show its consideration of the community's welfare include the ongoing endeavor since 2008 to include new online safety regulations, protections for teens and tools for parents. Protections comprise of "defaulting 16 and 17 year old users’ profiles to private and strengthening the technology that enforces the site’s minimum age of 14". A 24-hour hotline is also available to parents and teens who experience safety issues on the site. Myspace is also working with Attorneys General in the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking representing 49 states and the District of Columbia to provide online safety public service announcements targeted at parents and free parental software reinforcing these PSA's messages. 


Overall,  all of News Corporation's community relations initiatives show the humane nature a major media conglomerate can achieve through working with and in the interests of its consumers. 

Media Relations Activites

Handling media relations activities is quite the task. You write an amazing press release, send it out to your media contact list, and upload it on your Web page's newsroom for all to see.  But who actually chooses to use it and where it ends up is beyond a company's control.  Media Corporation follows a similar system as several news releases are located directly on the company's Web site. Categorized by year, with 2011 currently at 13 releases, these clips focus more on financial issues and the latest innovations and companies to join the media conglomerate. Additionally, each release includes contact info at the bottom such as Investor Relations Contact, Reed Nolte, and Media Corp's General Press Contact, Teri Evertt.

News Corp also has a second categorized news release thread entitled, "Business Unit News" which releases information on the latest happenings within the smaller companies News Corp owns. For example how the popular comedic show American Dad, is being renewed for a seventh term. This info was published on prestigious news sites such as The Huffington Post online, and the Hollywood Reporter to tv/movie buff sites such as tvbythenumbers.com, Screen Rant, and Spoiler TV.

NEWS FLASH! The popular comedic show American Dad, is being renewed for a seventh term.

Other published articles relating to News Corp outside of the entertainment realm Web sites include The New York Times, which published an article on the company's global carbon neutrality atmosphere, and the $1million donation CEO Rupert Murdoch gave to the Republican Governors Association.

From these veteran newspapers, to the smallest media blog, getting Media Corps name out there is a media relations executive's raison d'être. Thus, all of these placements represent to several News Corp media relations department that hard work really did paid off in the unpredictable world of press. 

How News Corp Uses Blogging & Social Media

In order to run any successful business nowadays, whether it be a Fortune 100 company or a mom n' pop store, utilizing the Web for social media and blogging is pertinent. News Corporation, well aware of this, incorporates its own blog/newsfeed on its Web site's main page. This blog-like newsfeed includes all of the updated press releases of the company, as well as a separate feed for "business unit news". More specifically,  the press release feed offers info regarding fiscal earnings and other financial matters of the company, whereas the business unit section informs readers on dealings of the specific companies News Corp owns, such as American Idol  and how it is now utilizing online voting. Neither of these blogs have a way to comment on the material presented, which takes away from any interaction with readers. Perhaps this was to deter any negatory commenting that could have arose.

Additionally, their is no official News Corp Facebook page, nor Blogger account. But various blogs exist by reputable companies such as Business Week and Reuters, who blog about current dealings of News Corp. 

On the other hand, News Corp does use Twitter  to link current press releases/ news the company wants to inform readers about. Topics can range from their newest innovations such as "The Daily," the first national daily news publication for iPads, to a memo about 2nd Quarter 2011 Fiscal Earnings. All tweets contain links that redirect back to newscorp.com, where the full release is located. Interestingly, this Twitter account is not being used to reply to consumers or communicate with followers either. The account's main purpose is to create a way to inform via a live feed. Therefore, one could expect to see a crisis management tweet rather than one enticing employee  engagement or customer service. 

Social media/blogging is a great way to build communities with consumers and allow one to see the company as being authentic and transparent. Therefore I suggest News Corp allow for a more interactive social media network rather than for fast news updates. After all. being transparent and interactive with the population helps consumers feel as if the company is apart of them, and that can insure a long-lasting relationship in the business marketplace and space.