Inscrutable, Unaccountable

The attempted takeover of BSkyB has caused an outcry against the power of a one man media empire to dominate so large a portion of the media in any one country.

The outcry came as the BskyB takeover by News Corp was authorised with conditions by the Culture Secretary Mr Jeremy Hunt (Press Gazette, 2011). Some have felt that in light of the ongoing hacking inquiries and the Milly Dowler-News of the World phone hacking allegations (BBC, 2011), both News Corp affiliated, it would be inappropriate to give that same organisation access to the huge profits, audience and further influence that the deal would allow.

Notably former MP Mr John Prescott has written to OFCOM to request that the bid be reassessed on the grounds of the recent investigations. It's a sensible move considering there are growing concerns about the bid's threat to editorial independence (The Independent, 2011) and the role of the press; and further the risk to British politics of having an undemocratic organisation with such international influence (The Telegraph, 2011) so firmly wedged into the middle of the political process (The Guardian, 2011).

That any organisation can so heavily dominate the media field is a credible threat to democracy. It is against such threats that checks and balances are needed; to stand against this kind of inscrutable, unaccountable power.

The deadline for submissions to the public consultation on the bid is midday, Friday 8 July 2011.

If you're interested in taking a stand against the takeover, head over to avaaz.org to see what you can do today.

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References:
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+ Press Gazette's 'Hunt backs Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB takeover bid'; 30 June 2011;

+ BBC's 'News of the World "hacked Milly Dowler phone"'; 4 July 2011;

+ The Independent's 'Leading article: Power that threatens both an industry and democracy'; 1 July 2011;

+ The Guardian's 'News Corp/BSkyB deal underlines Murdoch's political clout' by James Robinson; 30 June 2011;

+ The Telegraph's 'News Corp's battle for BSkyB shows global ambition'; by Amanda Andrews; 2 July 2011;