LOS ANGELES (AP) — An annual News Corp shareholders meeting in Los Angeles on Friday took on a circus-like atmosphere as CEO Rupert Murdoch defended his handling of a phone hacking scandal in Britain and deflected any notion that he plans to step down soon.The revelation this summer that a private investigator hired by the News of the World had hacked into the cellphone voicemail of a 13-year-old murder victim forced the company to shutter the tabloid and drop its $12 billion bid for full control of British Sky Broadcasting.During Friday's meeting Murdoch parried allegations that he had poor oversight of the company, sometimes cutting off speakers to jab in an insult or dispute a fact.More than 100 protesters gathered outside the 20th Century Fox studio where the meeting was held on Friday, some carrying anti-Murdoch signs, including one that read "Fire the Murdoch Mafia."