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News Corp Jeremy Hunt Rupert Murdoch

Sly Bailey warns Jeremy Hunt over News Corp’s Sky bid

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

January 20, 2011 | 2 min read

Sly Bailey has launched an attack on culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, saying the Tory needs to be “educated” about the dangers of allowing News Corporation to take full control of BSkyB.

Bailey has claimed Hunt had already said publicly that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp buying the 61% of BSkyB it does not already own would make no difference to the way the company is run.

She said: "Hunt thinks this deal won't change anything. We need to educate him. The deal is bad news for our democracy. This is a deal too far and it is a deal that should not be done.”

"I would say to Jeremy Hunt: 'be careful what you wish for'," warned Bailey.

Hunt was last year given a report by Ofcom looking at whether a BSkyB deal will reduce the range and choice of media available in the UK, and he is likely to decide by the end of the month whether to refer it to the Competition Commission for further investigation.

Bailey explained that News Corp “does not control BSkyB. Control means you can do what you want with a company. At the moment News Corp can't do that."

Independent shareholders, she said, act as a bulwark against News Corp but if the company's £7.5bn bid is waived through by Hunt it "will take it from a position of material influence to one of outright control."

This, she claims, would leave News Corp free to dictate Sky's strategy, amounting to "an unambiguous reduction in plurality".

An alliance of media groups calling for the deal to be blocked on public interest grounds include Trinity Mirror, Guardian Media Group, Associated Newspapers, BT and Telegraph Media Group.

News Corp Jeremy Hunt Rupert Murdoch

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