Rupert Murdoch’s The News Corporation took another major hit today in light of the recent phone hacking scandal involving Les Hinton. The blow came with the resignation of a senior European executive, Andrew Langhoff, on Tuesday following an internal investigation which was ignited by an ex-circulation employee of Dow Jones and Co. In an alleged effort to boost sales in a declining newsprint industry, Langhoff has been said to be channeling cash illegally. The Guardian found evidence of The Wall Street Journal Europe funneling money through numerous European businesses, ultimately buying up multitudes of its own publication at reduced rates leading readers to believe false circulation rates.
Many of the European businesses had signed contracts with Langhoff agreeing to their services being advertised and pushed in return for the favor. This fatal decision on the part of Langhoff is what led some individuals to question the journalistic ethics and integrity of him and his staff – something that has always been held sacred to that publication.
According to the New York Times, an unnamed Netherlands company and the circulation department of Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal Europe entered into an agreement where the company was featured in two articles showered in a positive light. Langhoff, in an e-mail to his staff, stated that he would take the honorable course and resign from his position to ensure that the company was in fact not allowing corporate sponsors to dictate what the editors could and could not publish.
Wednesday’s comment from Dow Jones had learned of the incident from a company named “Executive Learning Partnership,” a corporate sponsor of the Wall Street Journal Europe. This company had ultimately come forward with questions pertaining to the ethics behind the Wall Street Journal Europe due to the agreement made between them and the circulation department.
Although Langhoff had stated that his resignation centered around him not wanting people to be mislead about corporate sponsors, many others in the field are speculating about the truth behind his resignation. The remark had been made that circulation programs are common throughout newspapers, the question remains to be answered as to whether or not his resignation reason was in fact genuine. According to the New York Times, spokesperson Bethany Sherman insists that his resignation has nothing to do with circulation programs.
Both Sherman and spokesperson Nick Van Heck speaking on behalf of Executive Learning Partnership declined to comment on the specifics of the actual agreement, however, according to The Wall Street Journal U.S., Van Heck did say, “Between May 2009 and April 2011, ELP was a lead sponsor of the “Future Leadership Institute.” The Future Leadership Institute is an initiative of the Wall Street Journal Europe’s circulation department.
With the absence of Langhoff, senior Vice President Kelly Leach will act as interim director for Europe, Africa, and the Middle-East until Dow Jones and Co are able to fill the rather large shoes Langhoff left abandoned. According to The Wall Street Journal President Todd Larson stated that Langhoff had led a strong team and left the paper with strong momentum in Europe.