After making another attempt to buy out the 24-hour news channel Sky, and take more control of the British media, Rupert Murdoch was blocked last week by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA believes the purchase will allow Murdoch to yield too much power and influence over British news and thus too much influence and opinion over British society—and undeniable fact.
The Australian Fox mogul sold much of his empire to Disney earlier this year and plans to concentrate on purchasing/controlling more news media outlets in England and around the world. Currently, the Murdoch family empire owns Britain's most lucrative news providers including the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times.
Nico HInes with the Daily Beast reports:
“Murdoch has battled for more than a decade to get his hands on the highly profitable Sky business, in which he already holds a 39 percent stake. Today, British authorities said that would not be “in the public interest.”
Globally, the Murdoch Family has grown and acquired news and opinion media outlets that include:
News and Information
- Dow Jones (Wall Street Journal, CIO Journal, CFO Journal, CMO Journal and international WSJ editions, Wall Street Journal Digital Network, Factiva, DJ Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Newswires, Barrons, MarketWatch, Dow Jones Private Market, DJX)
- News Corp Australia (The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, taste.com, CareerOne.com, Busienss Spectator, Eureka Reports, carguide.com, FOX SPORTS PULSE, and local dailies)
- News UK (The Sun, The Times)
- New York Post
- News America Marketing (SmartSource inserts)
- Storyful
By owning so much of the financial heavy hitters in the U.S., one can’t help but question the integrity of the American stock exchange.The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Market Watch can wield power and corruption by publishing stories that can spook public investors to sell their investments at lows, and then in yearnig to get the stocks back, buy at highs. This, of course, makes the enormously rich like Murdoch and Trump richer—all at the expense of every day investors.
As for blocking Murdoch’s current quest to purchase SKY, the CMA is aware their ruling may mark the end of his current attempt, but it’s doubtful Murdoch will give up. The good news is that British authorities have blocked Murdoch’s efforts before and will mostly continue to do so in the future.
Cheers to the British authorities for preventing Murdoch from gaining more control—thus, protecting the British people. Perhaps one day we will see countries, including the US, begin to break up news conglomerates and prevent them forming again. Here in the United States, that is not likely to happen as long as the likes of Trump and the Republican-led Congress remain in power. But come Electionb Day in November, if the majority of the American people against Trump and the GOP enablers, show up to the polls that are fairly run, big changes will be a comin’.