Tory links to Murdoch under scrutiny after Ofcom ruling

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

How close is the Conservative party to the Murdoch media empire?

The question has been brought into sharp focus by Ofcom's long-awaited Pay TV report, which has ordered BSkyB to cut its charges for Sky Sports.

Last summer, as the media regulator gathered evidence for its pay-TV review, Conservative leader David Cameron said that Ofcom "as we know it, would cease to exist" if his party came into power. Said Mr Cameron: "Give Ofcom, or give a new body, the technical function of handing out the licences and regulating, lightly, the content that's on the screens. But it shouldn't be making policy, it shouldn't have its own communications department. The head of Ofcom is paid almost half a million pounds. We could slim this body down a huge amount and save a lot of money for the taxpayer."

BBC's future

Accusations - hotly denied by the Tories - have been made that Conservative media policy is in effect being written by Rupert Murdoch and his son James - the chairman of BSkyB, chief executive of the Sun's owners News International, and not a fan of Ofcom.

Labour claimed there'd been a deal on media policy after the Sun newspaper switched its allegiance to the Conservatives. A few weeks after Mr Cameron's comments, James Murdoch launched an outspoken attack on the BBC.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8601711.stm

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It's obvious that the Murdochs and the Tories want a UK version of Faux news but to do that they need to neuter http://www.ofcom.org.uk/">Ofcom.

James Murdoch stormed the Independent's offices this week probably because they can feel that dream slipping away:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x458289">"The Truth Behind The UK General Election" & Why Murdoch's Son Stormed Into The Independent's Office

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[SpiralHawk]

1. How close is the Republicon Party to Fox "News"?

[Historic NY]

2. Its even closer than that! They're sharing DNA.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. Cameron's plans to destroy OFCOM seemed to come out at the same time

as The Sun's endorsement of David Cameron and the Conservative Party. Heaven offend if these two things are seen as more than just a coincidence.

Cameron hasn't exactly being bigging up the BBC lately either. The Tory party wish to hack the Beeb to bits and leave it as a PBS-type station on the periphery.

[Turborama]

4. Australia's 'The Age' has a good prediction of what will happen under a Lib Dem/Labour coalition...

Britain will be a left-leaning European society, and no recognisably Tory party will have a chance of governing in its own right.

Conclusion to this article: http://www.theage.com.au/world/thanks-to-debates-the-uk-heads-for-a-political-crisis-20100424-tkh3.html

One of the most frightening prospects for British democracy is if the Tories win and Murdoch's far right propaganda machine inevitability getting the same free reign it has in America.

No more Jeremy Paxman & no more Jon Snow, just to name two.

[anigbrowl]

5. It's always been that way, to be honest

This is all you need to know about the UK media...it's 25 years old, and still largely true: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M

The Sun is traditionally with the Tories. They switched to Labour in 1997 because they were obviously going to win and the Sun likes to say they always pick the winner. Fox News is basically the televised equivalent of the sun, minus the topless model pictures on page 3.