Church of England dumps News Corp shares

The Church of England said on Tuesday that it has sold all its shares in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation because of ethical concerns over Britain's tabloid phone-hacking scandal.

The announcement came as police arrested another journalist from The Sun, the top-selling daily sister paper of Murdoch's weekly News of the World which shut down in disgrace last July.

The mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion said it had sold its ?1.9 million ($2.9 million, 2.4 million euro) stake because it was not convinced by News Corp's efforts to reform its corporate governance.

"The Church of England first raised concerns with the board of News Corporation in the aftermath of the phone-hacking allegations that surfaced in July 2011," the Church of England said in a statement.

"After a year of dialogue between the company and the EIAG (the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group), the Church of England was not satisfied that News Corporation had shown, or is likely in the immediate future to show, a commitment to implement necessary corporate governance reform."

Andrew Brown, Secretary of the Church Commissioners, said the decision was "not taken lightly".

The Church of England said it already excludes investment in companies involved in military products and services, pornography, alcoholic drinks, gambling, tobacco, human embryonic cloning and high interest rate lending.

The Church has three national investment bodies -- the Church Commissioners for England, the Church of England Pensions Board, and the CBF Church of England Funds -- which together hold assets worth more than ?8 billion.

Other News Corp shareholders have expressed concerns about the effect the scandals at Murdoch's British papers will have on the wider business of the media giant.

More than 60 people have been arrested in a British police investigation into wrongdoing in the press, almost all of them from Murdoch's stable of papers.

Scotland Yard said on Tuesday it had arrested a male journalist, 37, and a serving policeman, 29, over the suspected bribery of a police officer.

A spokeswoman for News International, News Corp's British newspaper wing, confirmed that the journalist worked for The Sun but would not name him.

The arrests came as a result of information provided to police by the Management Standards Committee of News Corporation, which was set up to investigate malpractice at the media giant, said police.

The journalist was arrested in a dawn raid at his north London home while the policeman, a serving officer with Sussex Police in south-east England, was arrested at his home.

Both were later bailed until November, Scotland Yard said.

The pair was detained under Operation Elveden, which is investigating journalists' alleged bribery of public officials and has detained a total of 43 people so far.

Police have also arrested 24 people under Operation Weeting, its core probe into phone hacking, and nine under Operation Tuleta into alleged computer hacking and privacy breaches by journalists.

Andy Coulson, former media chief to Prime Minister David Cameron, and former top Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks are among those who have been formally charged with phone hacking.

Brooks previously edited both the News of the World and The Sun while Coulson formerly edited the News of the World.

Two current or former staff from the rival Trinity Mirror group have also been arrested.

Australian-born Murdoch was forced to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World over revelations that its staff hacked into the voicemail messages of a murdered teenager, as well as dozens of public figures.

Murdoch resigned in July as director of a number of companies behind The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. In June he said News Corp would split its entertainment division from its struggling publishing business.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/church-england-sells-news-corp-shares-142310019.html

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