Murdoch-owned 21st C Fox has not cleaned up its act

* Fox News' pattern of covering up scandals is similar to the wya they hushed up phone-hacking in the UK

* The UK should reject 21st C Fox's bid for Sky Plc

In response to Bill O’Reilly’s ouster from Fox News, Alaphia Zoyab, Senior Campaigner at Avaaz said : “Harassment, denial, cover-up and hush money are the Murdochs’ stock in trade. Bill O’Reilly’s sacking now only shows that the Murdochs will continue to cover-up illegal and harmful practices until someone blows the lid. It’s not safe for the UK government to let them control even more of our media.”

When phone-hacking was first unearthed in the UK, Murdoch-owned News International said it was restricted to “one rogue reporter.” A tide of investigative news reporting, eventually showed that the practice was widespread, leading to a probe by the Metropolitan police and a judge-led inquiry. Several journalists were convicted, forcing Rupert Murdoch to issue a front page apology in several papers for “serious wrongdoing.”

Similarly, when Roger Ailes’ was removed as Fox News CEO, after the threat of a lawsuit, 21st C Fox issued an apology to female anchor Gretchen Carlson. But media reports soon showed that dozens of women came forward to complain and the culture of sexual and racial bullying was widespread. This was kept under wraps and the findings of an internal investigation, left unknown. It took a New York Times story to show that Fox had continued to settle claims for Bill O’Reilly, even after Rupert Murdoch took control as acting CEO.

The British regulator Ofcom is now investigating 21st C Fox’s corporate governance record in light of the company’s attempt to take over 100% of British Sky media.

Avaaz has made several submissions to Ofcom, including a detailed dossier showing the pattern of cover-ups and the denial in both phone-hacking and sexual and racial harassment. Avaaz has also met with Ofcom to bring to light ongoing lawsuits and the federal investigation facing Fox News. Over 70,000 Avaaz members in the UK have signed a petition calling for a thorough probe by Ofcom and over 10,000 people have emailed their consultation.

“We want to ensure that Ofcom is under no illusion that removing Bill O’Reilly addresses the massive misgovernance issues at Fox News.” Alaphia Zoyab, Senior Campaigner, Avaaz said.

The American lawyer for some of the harassment victims, Lisa Bloom has also written directly to Ofcom raising her concerns. She writes “The similarities between the current harassment scandal and the phone-hacking scandal reveal the company’s approach to business and management---a lack of oversight, intervention, and decency."

You can read her full letter here to Ofcom Chief Executive Sharon White here.