TWO years ago James Murdoch gave a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival entitled "The Absence of Trust", in which he described the power of the BBC as "chilling" and claimed that "the only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of [media] independence is profit".
TWO years ago James Murdoch gave a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival entitled \"The Absence of Trust\", in which he described the power of the BBC as \"chilling\" and claimed that \"the only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of [media] independence is profit\".
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Now we know just how wrong he was.
Until the hacking scandal exploded like a bomb under News International two weeks ago, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was busy waving through the bid from its parent company News Corporation to purchase the remaining 61% of BSkyB. Once through, assurances about the continued independence of Sky News would have been worth as much as similar pledges made when the Murdoch empire snapped up the Times and Sunday Times three decades ago. That is to say, very little. And while Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers once subsidised his satellite broadcasting business, the reverse would soon apply. BSkyB’s huge share of that market, with ten million subscribers and almost twice as much revenue as the BBC, would soon be used to bundle online subscriptions to its newspapers, with television, telephone and broadband deals, undermining its rivals. Remember how News International used predatory pricing to attack competing national and regional newspapers in the 1990s? The company’s unelected opinion-formers already claim that their weight can swing General Elections. Remember “It’s The Sun wot won it” in 1992, after the Conservatives were re-elected?
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Media diversity must be protected
TWO years ago James Murdoch gave a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival entitled "The Absence of Trust", in which he described the power of the BBC as "chilling" and claimed that "the only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of [media] independence is profit".
Now we know just how wrong he was.
Until the hacking scandal exploded like a bomb under News International two weeks ago, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was busy waving through the bid from its parent company News Corporation to purchase the remaining 61% of BSkyB. Once through, assurances about the continued independence of Sky News would have been worth as much as similar pledges made when the Murdoch empire snapped up the Times and Sunday Times three decades ago. That is to say, very little. And while Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers once subsidised his satellite broadcasting business, the reverse would soon apply. BSkyB’s huge share of that market, with ten million subscribers and almost twice as much revenue as the BBC, would soon be used to bundle online subscriptions to its newspapers, with television, telephone and broadband deals, undermining its rivals. Remember how News International used predatory pricing to attack competing national and regional newspapers in the 1990s? The company’s unelected opinion-formers already claim that their weight can swing General Elections. Remember “It’s The Sun wot won it” in 1992, after the Conservatives were re-elected?
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Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
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