Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF)
for diverse, democratic and accountable media
The Media Reform Coalition cautiously welcomes the Culture Secretary’s statement agreeing with the main finding of the Fox/Sky merger review: that the deal poses a serious risk to the public interest on plurality grounds. We are disappointed that neither he nor the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have expressed similar concerns in regard to Fox’s commitment to … [Read more...]
Last week Culture Secretary Matt Hancock decided to scrap part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry (whose terms of reference included looking into crime and wrongdoings within the Murdoch empire). This does not bode well for his forthcoming decision about whether or not to give Murdoch even MORE power by allowing his bid for Sky to proceed. And with less than two weeks left of our … [Read more...]
CNNIn yet another twist in the on-going saga for control of Sky, Comcast have announced a bid for Sky that is higher than that made Murdoch-controlled 21 Century Fox (this after 21CF has itself agreed to sell most of its assets, including its share in Sky to Disney). The Comcast bid raises fewer and different concerns than Fox; CPBF is generally against the ever-greater … [Read more...]
Great news everyone! The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK regulator responsible for the current Phase 2 investigation in Murdoch's Sky takeover, has provisionally found the the Fox/ Sky deal is NOT in the public interest. This is great boost for our fight to #StopMurdoch's Sky takeover, but we need to keep up the pressure to ensure that new Culture … [Read more...]
RUPERT MURDOCH is bidding to control even more of Britain’s media than he does already. On top of his huge newspaper and commercial radio interests he’s trying to buy up Sky, the biggest TV company in Europe. The CPBF is a central part of the movement to stop him and is launching a £20,000 appeal to make sure the campaign succeeds. Murdoch’s TV and film corporation 21st … [Read more...]
THE CPBF is launching a £20,000 crowdfunding appeal to step up the battle to stop the Murdochs buying up Sky TV. It is a fight that can now be won, as their empire starts to shake. Rupert and son James Murdoch have banked for years on the super-lucrative Sky channels in Europe to lift 21st Century Fox to the premier-league level of the US media megacorps. But after shock … [Read more...]
DCMSUPDATE: Karen Bradley has today (14 Sept 2017) confirmed that she is referring "the merger to the CMA for a Phase 2 investigation on media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards grounds". Good news re our campaign to #StopMurdoch's latest power grab: Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has referred Murdoch's Fox/ Sky bid to the Competition and Markets … [Read more...]
Santi di Tito [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commonsby Damian Tambini It’s the Politics, Stupid I am in Italy so I am going to make Machiavellian assumptions. When it comes to media mergers, like Machiavelli’s Prince, politicians act on the basis of moral considerations or the ‘public interest’ only to the extent that failing to do so entails political cost. Machiavelli’s advice would be that the Prince, to strengthen … [Read more...]
DCMSPlurality In a statement outlining her decision on the proposed takeover of Sky plc by 21st Century Fox, Inc., Secretary of State for Culture Karen Bradley announced this morning that she is "minded-to refer to a Phase 2 investigation on the grounds of media plurality". You can watch the full video of the statement here. An invitation for representations (deadline 14 … [Read more...]
Media Reform Coalitionby Media Reform Coalition Analysis by Media Reform Coalition and 38 Degrees suggests that Murdoch’s lobbying of government intensified ahead of the recent government consultation on the Leveson Inquiry and the announcement by Murdoch’s renewed bidto take over Sky. Between April 2015 and September 2016, senior News Corp executives met with government ministers or their … [Read more...]
![Santi di Tito [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Niccol_Machiavelli_by_Santi_di_Tito.jpg){kind=link}