Elisabeth Murdoch Won't Join News Corp. Board

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NEW YORK - Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth will not be nominated as a new board member of Murdoch's News Corp. at its upcoming annual meeting amid increased corporate governance scrutiny due to the phone hacking scandal.'

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Viet Dinh, chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee of the entertainment conglomerate's board, said so in a statement late Friday.

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Some observers have suggested that the head of production firm Shine, which News Corp. recently acquired, could ultimately succeed Murdoch if the phone hacking scandal ends up damaging the credibility of son James, who is deputy COO of the conglomerate, too much. For now though, the ascension of Elisabeth Murdoch at least to a board role seems delayed.

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"Elisabeth Murdoch suggested to the independent directors some weeks ago that she felt it would be inappropriate to include her nomination to the board of News Corp. at this year's AGM, as had been announced by Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch at the time of the acquisition of Shine Group earlier this year," Dinh said in his statement. "The independent directors agreed that the previously planned nomination should be delayed."

He added: "Both Elisabeth and the board hope this decision reaffirms that News Corp. aspires to the highest standards of corporate governance and will continue to act in the best interests of all stakeholders, be they shareholders, employees or the billions of consumers who News Corp. content informs, entertains and sometimes provokes every year."

Critics have argued that Murdoch family members, confidants and former News Corp. employees make the company's board anything but independent.