NUJ claims Rupert Murdoch 'bully-boy tactics' should lead to BBC licence deal being revisited
The NUJ, claiming that the “aggressive influence of Rupert Murdoch” has been laid bare by the Leveson Inquiry, is demanding that the BBC licence deal should be revisited.
The union’s general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, has declared that material revealed in evidence to the inquiry into press standards …“is a shocking indictment of how the media mogul has attempted to use his influence to undermine British democracy and triumph his commercial interests against the BBC.
"Sir John Major's testimony showed how Rupert Murdoch believed his ownership of a large part of the UK media landscape gave him the gall to believe that he could threaten the UK's prime minister, by saying he would withdraw the support of his newspapers unless Sir John changed his policy on the UK's membership of the EU.
"However, the NUJ is equally concerned about the unrivalled access that his son had in bending the most influential ears in the UK on his views of the BBC.
“James Murdoch was able to go right to the heart of the Tory-led coalition in meetings and cosy dinner parties with George Osborne and David Cameron to reiterate his aggressive stance against the BBC - outlined in his MacTaggart lecture, when he launched a scathing attack on the corporation, accusing it of a 'land grab' in a beleaguered media market."
The NUJ is campaigning against the 20% cuts to the BBC which it claims are a result of a “secret deal” between Mark Thompson, the out-going director general, and Culture Secretary ,Jeremy Hunt, , to freeze the BBC licence until 2017.
Stanistreet points out: “Mr Hunt was given the job of adjudicating on the Murdoch BskyB bid despite being known, in the words of Robert Jay QC, counsel to the Leveson Inquiry, as being a ‘cheerleader’ for the Murdochs.
“It was Mr Hunt's job to scutinise the £8 billion bid by News Corp to buy the 61% share of BSkyB that it did not already own. The deal was dropped following the scandal of the phone hacking of the mobile phone of Milly Dowler.”
The NUJ says that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's evidence to the inquiry also outlined the aggressive stance of James Murdoch against the BBC. Brown described the MacTaggart lecture as "breathtaking in its arrogance and ambition".
Stanistreet added: "The upshot of the Leveson revelations of the Murdoch influence and stranglehold on the UK's political process is a desperate need for a re-evaluation of the BBC licence deal.
“This was made behind closed doors and under what we know to be Murdoch-driven pressure. Especially as we now know that Sir Michel Lyons, the BBC Trust's former chairman, who was in on the deal, is on record of saying Jeremy Hunt was 'far too close to Sky'."