FREENo 212 Autumn 2017£1 Journal Press of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom SKY TAKEOVER WANTED:4 NEW MEDIA IN LONDON … as Grenfell Tower THEIR OWN borough paper THE MURDOCHS closes suffered a setback on September 12 WORST when culture secretary Karen Bradley told Parliament the Sky ENEMY bid will be referred DESPERATE MEASURES are being Kavanagh over an article that to the competition taken by the Murdoch media asked “What will we do about The 6 companies to shore up the bid to Muslim Problem?” regulator. Its A NEITHER SINNER buy up Sky TV. 178 people lodged formal investigation will Culture secretary Karen Bradley complaints about a story in The NOR SAVIOUR was expected to announce that she Times falsely accusing a London take at least six Challenging the myths will refer the bid to the Competition council of forcing a Christian child months. about the BBC and Markets Authority as Free Press into a Muslim foster family A went to the printer. In July she said A group of peers demanded she was “minded” to do so after action over the potential abuse of saying she had “made a fool of a report from the media regulator data about Sky subscribers by the herself”, since wearing a headscarf Ofcom that it would hand the Murdoch group was a “provocative gesture. She A Murdochs too much control over UK A columnist on the Sunday knew precisely what she was media and threaten their diversity. Times in Ireland, Kevin Myers, doing,” he wrote. The threats to the deal are all of was sacked over a stupidly Kavanagh is a member of IPSO’s the Murdochs’ own making – from anti-semitic article. board and a cross-party group the abuse of their media power, After publication of Trevor of MPs and peers wrote to IPSO from legal actions over the phone- Kavanagh’s piece The National to express “great concern” at his hacking and illegal information Union of Journalists demanded that comments in that role. gathering at the London papers, the press self-regulator IPSO carry Earlier this year MacKenzie from political reactions to their himself, for many years one of 8 racism and Islamophobia, from the Panic stations Rupert Murdoch’s closest colleagues, NEW THREAT sexual harassment scandals at Fox had to be sacked over an article crit- TV, its crude right-wing propaganda for the icising mixed-race footballer Ross TO DIVERSITY and fake stories … Murdochs Barkley over his appearance. … as Mirror group All of these were exacerbated In Ireland, Kevin Myers was buys the Express over the summer as Karen Bradley PAGES 2–3 sacked for an article commenting on was making up her mind: the publication of the high salaries A News Group, the London out an immediate investigation into paid to some BBC presenters, in newspapers subsidiary, paid out the prevalence of Islamophobia, which he observed that the two undisclosed millions in September racism and hatred in the press. highest-paid women on the list, to settle 17 court cases over phone- He raised similar outrage last Claudia Winkelman and Vanessa hacking at the Sun year by his support for an attack by Feltz, were Jewish. A 21st Century Fox, the film former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie Under the headline “Sorry and TV arm, withdrew Fox on Channel 4 journalist Fatima ladies, equal pay has to be earned”, News from broadcasting in the Manji for wearing a headscarf he wrote: “Good for them. Jews UK after its breaches of broad- while presenting news about a are not generally noted for their casting regulations terror attack in France. Fatima insistence on selling their talent For all campaign news and A More than 100 MPs signed a Manji complained to the IPSO for the lowest possible price, which info go to cpbf.org.uk furious cross-party letter to the which, unsurprisingly, threw out is the most useful measure there Email: editor of the Sun demanding he her complaint. is of inveterate, lost-with-all- [email protected] sack former political editor Trevor Kavanagh then wrote an article hands stupidity.” MURDOCH PRESS FOX NEWS SCRAPPED IN UK, PHONE-HACK TRIALS ARE BOUGHT OUT, TO SAVE SKY BID WRONG Panic stations! HANDS TO IN A DESPERATE move, Rupert “minded” to do so but needed more commercial interest to continue HOLD ALL Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox information from the regulator providing Fox News in the UK”. Corporation has taken its US channel Ofcom which examined the bid in Ed Miliband, the former Labour THAT DATA Fox News off the air in the UK after the early summer. leader and a prominent campaigner A TAKEOVER of Sky TV by 15 years. The station, with its rabid Fox News, though licensed to against the bid succeeding, said: the Murdoch empire would right-wing politics, its fake news broadcast by Ofcom, had a tiny UK “This decision shows the Murdochs be a “very grave threat to stories and its stream of sex abuse audience of about 2,000 viewers panicking about their bid for Sky. our democratic process” cases, had become a liability in the a day. Yet it managed to attract “It amounts to an admission according to a group of Murdoch family’s pursuit of Sky TV. a disproportionate number of that Fox News is not fit for UK peers concerned about The decision came as Karen complaints and Ofcom had made broadcasting in the standards and the abuse of the data held Bradley (below), the culture a number of rulings over breaches ethics of its journalism. by the pay-TV group on secretary, was about to announce of the licence conditions, including “It’s yet more proof that the her decision – expected as Free four last year, one of them being Murdochs can’t be trusted to own its subscribers. Press went to the printer – on over a programme featuring a 100% of Sky. The six whether to ask the Competition claim that Birmingham was a “Quite simply, the fear of the members of and Markets Authority to launch Muslim-dominated city “where Murdochs is that the scandals at the House of an investigation into the Murdochs’ non-Muslims simply don’t go”. Fox News could in 2017 sink their Lords describe £11.7 billion takeover bid. The company said it had bid for Sky, just as the scandals at it as “one of In July she said she was “concluded that it is not in our the News of the World did in 2011.” the largest DCMS and most sophisticated datasets in the country”, containing the TV viewing, internet and phone records of 13 million households. The data could be misused for political purposes should it “fall into the hands of an owner with an appetite for political leverage.” The organiser of the group, film producer Lord Puttnam (above), said: “The deal would give unregulated access to this huge database ‘Stop those cases now!’ from which an enormous amount of insight could RUPERT MURDOCH has paid out At a hearing in June, News the Murdoch papers’ prurient be extracted. millions and will have to pay out Group was ordered to explain news values. “With that information, more to prevent court hearings that why it had redacted hundreds of The highest-profile are comedian people can be could scupper his bid for Sky. documents relevant to the hacking Les Dennis, the footballer Jonathan individually targeted with In September his News Group case, and that laptops used by Woodgate, a former press officer advertisements personalised newspaper company settled James Murdoch should be searched for Liverpool football club and to them. I do see this as a 17 cases over phone-hacking for documents relating to the three Coronation Street actors. and illegally obtaining personal deletion of millions of allegedly The cost of the settlement has not very grave threat to our information by journalists at incriminating emails. been disclosed. democratic process. the Sun. If this information came But there are another 74 claims “It is incredible this The case was due to come to out before the bid for Sky was against the Sun in waiting which hasn’t been considered at the High Court in October, when sealed it would add to the will no doubt have to be bought any point. evidence would have been heard problems the Murdochs have out as well. A court hearing for “There is an urgent relating not just to phone-hacking created for themselves through the next tranche is scheduled for need for the Information at the daily paper, which has never the brutal management of their January 2018. Commissioner to confirm been admitted, but also to his son media businesses. News Group has already settled that data cannot be misused James Murdoch’s role in the huge The 17 cases involve minor hacking cases with more than 1,000 or misapplied before a Sky cover-up that followed the hacking celebrities whose lives would people, but these were related to decision is made. “ scandal at the News of the World. be of no interest were it not for the News of the World. 2 Free Press Autumn 2017 ‘What will we do about the Murdoch problem?’ MORE THAN 100 MPs have signed an open Muslims currently face threats from far right blame any particular group or demonise any letter demanding action over an article in and neo-Nazi groups in the UK and your particular group.” the Sun using “Nazi-like language” about publication of this article can therefore only Equality and Human Rights Commission the Muslim community in Britain.