AVAAZ
Thursday, July 20, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Government must launch probe into Murdoch’s corporate failings ahead of decision on Sky takeover - or could face legal action
Avaaz submission shows Ofcom failed to act on evidence of corporate governance and broadcasting standards failures
The Government should use the newly-announced delay to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky takeover bid to examine failings in Ofcom’s investigation into corporate governance and broadcasting standards assessment of 21st Century Fox, and could face legal action if they don’t launch a new probe, Avaaz said today.
Karen Bradley today announced a delay in a decision on what grounds to refer the bid to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), pushing back the start of a potential deeper investigation into Murdoch’s proposed takeover of Sky.
A submission made by Avaaz to Bradley shows how Ofcom’s earlier investigation ignored significant evidence of corporate governance and broadcasting standards failures by the Murdochs and their media outlets.
Avaaz says these crucial areas should be referred to the CMA, in addition to a probe into media plurality, to correct failings in Ofcom’s assessment -- and warns that the government could face legal action if it does not investigate fully.
Avaaz Campaign Director, Meredith Alexander said: “Karen Bradley’s first priority must be keeping British democracy safe from the rotten culture of coverup and cowboy journalism that has been the hallmark of the Murdoch media. Ofcom has failed to do its job in weighing these risks,and if Bradley follows suit, she could find herself on the wrong end of legal action.”
There are robust legal grounds for expanding the scope of the CMA investigation.
In a new submission to Bradley, Avaaz says that Ofcom made a mistake in taking the Murdochs' assurances about broadcasting commitments and corporate governance reforms at face value, despite the overwhelming evidence of repeated failures.
Ofcom found Fox News to be in breach of its license requirements, as well as identifying serious “corporate failure” at the organisation. Yet the watchdog then applied the wrong legal threshold for recommending the bid for a deeper probe by the CMA and thus wrongly concluded that one was not necessary.
Ofcom also failed to proactively investigate the offensive, biased and inaccurate material Fox News broadcasts in the UK and ignored serious governance failings in other parts of the Murdoch Family Trust-run businesses. Avaaz has highlighted hush money settlements of almost a billion dollars in another Murdoch-run company called News America Marketing.
In a letter to Secretary of State Bradley, independent corporate governance expert Nell Minow, who has monitored the Murdoch-run Board for several years described 21 Century Fox as suffering from “a catastrophic and systemic failure of governance that is responsible for the lack of integrity in the media product, a critical failure which affects the credibility of journalism.”
If Karen Bradley decides on a referral on broadcasting standards grounds as well as plurality grounds, she will have public opinion firmly behind her. In an ICM-Avaaz poll conducted in the first week of July this year, an overwhelming majority of 76% said the government should fully investigate all claims of misconduct before allowing the Murdochs to control more of the British media.
For information & interview requests:
LONDON: Alaphia Zoyab, +44 7738 335 680 / alaphia@avaaz.org.
NEW YORK: Will Davies, +1 646 628 1210 / will@avaaz.org