democracy is vital to British society and the Media plays an important role in presenting factual based evidence to society. Proper reporting of the news and information is vital for people to make decisions about who is best to run the country. The media essentially can play kingmaker but British media has been skewered since Rupert Murdoch began his venture into the British media foray.
Recently Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox film and television group swooped in with £11.2 billion bid to take full control of broadcaster Sky, of which it already has a 39% stake in.
Questionable practices ignored
The News of the World was closed because of widespread phone hacking, especially after it emerged that they had hacked the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. But like every good serial villain he returns as if nothing happened, with Rebekah Brooks back at the helm of News UK. Most of what has been done by Murdoch has been swept under the rug by May; recently they met secretly in New York meaning there should be little surprise that this bid is now on the table. Plus, not long after this meeting she attempted to cancel Leveson phase 2 inquiry into the News Corp hacking.
Recently, there have been revelations of email deletions in court records and one of the Murdoch’s favourites, Mazher Mahmood’s conviction.
It is vital that Rupert and James Murdoch should face Ofcom over this bid but more importantly a ‘fit and proper person’ test. This is a chance for May to show that she will stand up to the powerful, no bigger than Murdoch and this would surely show that she wants the best for the country. Unfortunately, they already have had a secret meeting and the concern is that this will be used to further skewer journalistic practices and allow the media to continue to play the power game.
Change of circumstances?
There have been a few defending the attempted takeover by claiming that since News Corp has since separated from Fox, which means that the bidding firm no longer owns UK newspapers. Plus, it was also claimed that the British government were keen to promote investment, within the aftermath of Brexit, and this deal is a sign of confidence in the economy.
Theresa May has no desire to stop Murdoch because it will be detrimental to her position as PM. She can use her position to gain favour and ensure that she will stay in this position for years to come, and this may seem like sensationalist nonsense but it was Murdoch who claimed that he was the reason Thatcher became PM. If you look at reality, how far from the truth is this and how much impact has the media had on political decisions in this country?
