No-one would deny that both the local and national press are facing problems. In the past decade more than 300 local newspapers have been closed, and two thirds of local authority areas and more than half of parliamentary constituencies no longer have a local daily newspaper covering their affairs. The number of local journalists has decline dramatically, most of those lucky … [Read more...]
Journalists stress importance of independence and ethics
A call from members of the National Union of Journalists in Leeds for the union to raise awareness of the benefits for society of independent and ethical journalism as well as highlighting examples of journalists taking an individual or collective stand in its defence is being marked today. The suggestion originally came to mark the anniversary of a national strike on August … [Read more...]
CMA provisionally finds Fox/Sky deal not in the public interest
Great news everyone! The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK regulator responsible for the current Phase 2 investigation in Murdoch's Sky takeover, has provisionally found the the Fox/ Sky deal is NOT in the public interest. This is great boost for our fight to #StopMurdoch's Sky takeover, but we need to keep up the pressure to ensure that new Culture … [Read more...]
CPBF statement on announcement of Fox/ Disney deal
A deal for "The Walt Disney Company To Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., After Spinoff Of Certain Businesses, For $52.4 Billion In Stock" has been announced. Those who understand the Murdochs malign influence on public life on both sides of the Atlantic, and all those like CPBF who have successfully campaigned against their Sky takeover have cause to celebrate … [Read more...]
We’ll Stop Murdoch Again
RUPERT MURDOCH is bidding to control even more of Britain’s media than he does already. On top of his huge newspaper and commercial radio interests he’s trying to buy up Sky, the biggest TV company in Europe. The CPBF is a central part of the movement to stop him and is launching a £20,000 appeal to make sure the campaign succeeds. Murdoch’s TV and film corporation 21st … [Read more...]
The Deal Too Far
THE CPBF is launching a £20,000 crowdfunding appeal to step up the battle to stop the Murdochs buying up Sky TV. It is a fight that can now be won, as their empire starts to shake. Rupert and son James Murdoch have banked for years on the super-lucrative Sky channels in Europe to lift 21st Century Fox to the premier-league level of the US media megacorps. But after shock … [Read more...]
Why the Leveson Inquiry must be allowed to finish its work
The Media Reform Coalition have written about why the Leveson Inquiry must be allowed to finish its work. They conclude that: If we never get to the bottom of the webs of institutional corruption that have persisted for decades between elements of the press, police and politicians, then the real problem is a systemic failure of justice and accountability. That is why the … [Read more...]
High Court upholds the status of IMPRESS
The CPBF welcomes today's judgement (.pdf) from the High Court to uphold the status of IMPRESS as the first self-regulatory body for the press in UK history to be externally recognised as independent and effective. https://twitter.com/impressproject/status/918420355567509504 As IMPRESS write: At a meeting held in public on 25 October 2016, and following a nine-month … [Read more...]
UPDATE: Bradley refers Fox/ Sky bid on both plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards
UPDATE: Karen Bradley has today (14 Sept 2017) confirmed that she is referring "the merger to the CMA for a Phase 2 investigation on media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards grounds". Good news re our campaign to #StopMurdoch's latest power grab: Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has referred Murdoch's Fox/ Sky bid to the Competition and Markets … [Read more...]
The BBC Failed Its Duty To Promote Multiculturalism
By snubbing the Welsh language, the BBC laid bare its true biases, writes MEIC BIRTWISTLE A BBC programme caused a storm of protest in Wales last Wednesday and particularly over in a field in Anglesey, where the country’s national Eisteddfod was taking place. The Welsh Language — Help or Hindrance to the Nation? was the title of a segment on the BBC’s current affairs show … [Read more...]