Australia to hold media enquiry
It has been announced that the Australian government will launch a media enquiry following complaints that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp owns too many of the nation's newspapers.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy said there would be an inquiry into the Australian media and the terms of reference were under discussion with the Greens party that supports Labour's minority government, but that it would not be an attack on News Ltd: the News Corp subsidiary in Australia.
It has been suggested that the enquiry will cover areas including protections for privacy and the role of the print media's self-regulatory watchdog, Australian Press Council.
Liberal Leader Tony Abbott dismissed the need for a media inquiry, calling it a ‘naked attempt to intimidate the media’, and saying there was no evidence of any new problems in the Australian industry.