Find out here
Just days after a UK regulator put a provisional block on the £11.7bn Fox-Sky deal saying it would concentrate too much power in Rupert Murdoch’s hands, the US-based media group has now pledged to guarantee the independence of Sky News.
The group has reportedly tabled a package of “firewall remedies” to the regulator, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), including a pledge to establish an independent Sky News editorial board that would remain free of any influence by Fox employees.
The company said it would commit to maintain Sky News for at least five years and would establish a fully independent board for the channel.
Fox said the combined effect of its proposals meant that “there could be no circumstances in which, post-transaction, the MFT or members of the Murdoch family could influence, whether directly or indirectly, the editorial line or policy of Sky News”.
The UK regulator, according to the BBC, is due to present its final report to Culture Secretary Matt Hancock by 1 May.
Fox has been trying to buy the 61 per cent stake of Sky, but the watchdog blocked the deal saying it was not in the public interest on grounds of media plurality.
Leave a Comment