FOX-SKY MERGER: MUDOCHS HAVE A HISTORY OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FAILURE – MP

starconnect
starconnect
Mr. Rupert Mudoch
Chairman, FOX NEWS, Rupert Mudoch

Emmanuel Thomas l Friday, July 21, 2017

WESTMINSTER, London – A British lawmaker, representing (West Bromwich East) in parliament, Tom Watson has described American business mogul and owner of Fox News, the Mudochs as having a history of regulatory non-compliance and of corporate governance failure that calls the commitment of the family to broadcasting standards into serious question.




Rupert Mudoch is the current chairman of FOX NEWS. Speaking during the inquiry on proposed Fox-Sky merger, Tom Watson said the corporate governance failure of the Mudochs is evident in the phone hacking scandal when senior employees and executives at News International failed to comply with the criminal law, with acceptable standards of journalistic conduct, and with basic human decency.

“Murdochs have a history of regulatory non-compliance and of corporate governance failure, and that calls their commitment to broadcasting standards into serious question. Ofcom itself says that there are significant concerns about Fox’s approach to ensuring Fox News content compliance with the broadcasting code.

“We saw in the phone hacking scandal that senior employees and executives at News International failed to comply with the criminal law, with acceptable standards of journalistic conduct, and, frankly, with basic human decency.

“We see the ongoing sexual and racist harassment at Fox News in the United States, where very senior employees behaved appallingly over decades and nothing was done—evidence of what Ofcom calls “significant corporate failure”, he said.

He asded that the best way to get to the bottom of this corporate failure would be to proceed with the inquiry that has already been promised and that is specifically intended to look into it in part 2 of the Leveson inquiry.

“Will the Secretary of State undertake today to get on and just do it? I note that, although the Conservative manifesto promised not to go ahead with Leveson 2, a recent parliamentary answer to me indicated that the Government are still considering the consultation on it. I hope that this is another of the Prime Minister’s many dropped manifesto commitments. It is not too ​late for the Secretary of State to do the right thing, and if she does go ahead with Leveson 2, she will have our full support”, he said.

He said the influence of the Murdochs on this Government is still a matter of serious concern.
“Only this week, in a letter to me, the First Secretary of State refused to deny that Rupert Murdoch had asked the Prime Minister to put the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) back into the Cabinet.

“I expected the allegation to be denied. It was not denied. We will be drawing our own conclusions from that. I have consistently—persistently—asked the Secretary of State to publish the minutes of the meeting between the Prime Minister and Rupert Murdoch in the US in 2016. Will she commit to do that now?

“The Secretary of State now has the opportunity to demonstrate that we live in a democracy, not a Murdochracy. Will she now undertake to prove who is in charge by not making any decision until the House returns in September?”, he queried.

Share this Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Be the first to get the news as soon as it breaks Yes!! I'm in Not Yet
Verified by MonsterInsights