Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky

by **Jill Havern** on 16.03.17 17:22

Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky. Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, just announced an investigation into the takeover. [1]

This means that instead of getting waved through, Murdoch’s plan faces a fresh obstacle. Ofcom, the media watchdog, now has to look into Murdoch’s dodgy media empire. Spoiler alert: Rupert Murdoch probably won't like what they say. [2]

Here’s how we helped make this happen:

When news broke about his takeover back in December, we sprung into action. Over 319,000 of us signed a petition asking Karen Bradley to refer the deal. [3] We delivered it straight to the government - and it was covered in national newspapers! [4]
When we found out Karen Bradley was on BBC Question Time, we all chipped in to drive a huge mobile billboard to the studio, so it was right in front of her as she arrived. 38 Degrees-ers took to Twitter, sending thousands of tweets asking her to refer the deal. [5]
Next, we crowdfunded an advert in a national newspaper with the total petition signatures, asking Karen Bradley to stop the deal - even when other papers refused to publish it because it was so controversial. [6]
And on the same day, we parked the mobile billboard outside Karen Bradley's office, the Department of Media, Culture and Sport - and delivered hundreds of leaflets to her staff as they arrived for work. [7]

Last time Rupert Murdoch made a bid to take over Sky, it was public opposition to the phone hacking scandal that stopped him. [8] Today's news proves that if enough of us get involved we can stop him again. [9]

Today's news is a huge step towards stopping the takeover. In the next few weeks, we will have more to do. But for now, why not take a minute to watch this video on all we’ve done - then share it with your family and friends?

by **Jill Havern** on 04.10.17 12:08

Ofcom faces legal action over ruling Sky would remain 'fit and proper' if acquired by Rupert Murdoch

'Ofcom didn't dig deep enough before declaring the Murdochs fit to own even more of our media,' according to campaign group Avaaz

Regulator Ofcom is facing a legal challenge over its ruling that Sky would remain "fit and proper" to hold a UK broadcasting licence if it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.

Campaign group Avaaz said on Friday that it is filing papers in court seeking a judicial review of the ruling, adding that it aims "to have Ofcom's decision quashed and a new investigation opened".

Alex Wilks, Avaaz campaign director, said: "Repeated, large-scale scandals in the Murdoch empire indicate that something is very rotten at the core of their businesses.

"Ofcom didn't dig deep enough before declaring the Murdochs fit to own even more of our media."

Ofcom told Culture Secretary Karen Bradley in June that the takeover attempt raised "public interest concerns" and she could refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a fuller investigation on the grounds of media plurality.

But the watchdog said the £11.7bn merger would not stop Sky from holding a broadcasting licence.

Avaaz claims the watchdog's decision not to rule against the deal when it came to the UK broadcasting licence was based on "exaggerated fears of the consequences of doing so".

The activist group alleged Ofcom had set too high a bar for finding 21st Century Fox "unfit and improper" to hold a licence.

It also claimed the regulator had made errors when assessing 21st Century Fox's compliance with the UK broadcasting code, drew "wrong conclusions" from allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News, and ignored the role James Murdoch would play as chief executive of 21st Century Fox.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We will defend our 'fit and proper' assessment, which was independent, expert and based on the evidence."

Earlier this month Ms Bradley confirmed the deal - which would see Mr Murdoch acquire the 61% of Sky that 21st Century Fox does not already own - will be referred to the competition watchdog for an in-depth probe.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ofcom-legal-action-challenge-sky-rupert-murdoch-acquisition-uk-broadcasting-licence-fit-and-proper-a7973681.html

by plebgate on 04.10.17 17:10

People power works and crowd funding works. Well done to all those who get involved. Enough is enough. Fed up with these quangos who are appointed by their cronies.

Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky

Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky

Re: Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky

Re: Thousands of people have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky

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