Glass Lewis – a US advisor that works with investors of $15 trillion – says neither James or Lachlan Murdoch should be re-elected to the board of News Corp at the AGM next week.

A report from Glass Lewis advises investors to “carefully consider the nature of the relationship each director has with the company and with its controlling shareholder, the Murdoch family, in order to establish a board with proper independence levels and strong oversight”.

The move follows advice in Britain from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum that Rupert and James should step down. The institutional shareholder advisory service, Pirc, has called for a shakeup.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors said last month that the News Corp board structure “does not reflect good corporate governance” and called for six directors to stand down.

Glass Lewis is also recommending shareholders carefully consider the re-election of Natalie Bancroft, David DeVoe, Andrew Knight and Arthur Suskind as well as the Murdoch sons on the grounds that they are not sufficiently independent.

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