Dear All
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Murdoch’s fall from grace has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen our democracy — as politicians return to work this week let’s push them to pass a strong law to prevent any one person, especially Murdoch, from owning too much of our media.
Murdoch’s power over our politicians rested on his control over what UK citizens read and watched. A 20% limit on media ownership would cut Murdoch’s stranglehold on our politics. But MPs won’t go that far unless they are forced to. Let’s use a new direct democracy initiative to do so — they’ll have to debate our petition when we reach 100,000 signatures.
Let’s ensure that moguls like Murdoch can never again control our media and our politics by demanding that all parties pledge to ensure nobody owns more than a fifth of our media. Click below to sign the petition on the official government website, then send this to everyone to reach 100,000 signatures.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/murdoch_media_regulation/?vl
The full extent of the Murdochs’ grip on our politicians is only now emerging, with endless tales of bullying and coercion. Murdoch met many senior ministers very regularly — including to discuss the BSkyB deal. But our outrage has now forced politicians to push back against Murdoch’s news machine, giving us a rare chance to shape the laws that will prevent future abuses of power.
The political parties are discussing media rules, but want to wait for the long judicial inquiry before bringing forward proposals. Let’s push party leaders to come forward now to agree that no person or company — except for the publicly owned and highly-regulated BBC — can capture more than one fifth of the British media. This will ensure we have a choice of what to read and watch, and politicians won’t get captured by private media interests.
Let’s build on the massive momentum following Murdoch’s disgrace — sign the official petition for strict media ownership limits, and tell everyone.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/murdoch_media_regulation/?vl
The last months have shown that when people act together we can challenge even the most entrenched power in our land. We’ve forced Rupert Murdoch to withdraw his BSkyB bid and the government to start a full public inquiry into hacking and media laws. Now is the moment to take this further — ensuring the media generates accountability and boosts democracy, rather than corrupts it.
With determination,
Alex, Sam, Pascal, Emma, Ricken, David, Mia and the whole Avaaz team
More information
Inside the Murdoch Empire (BBC):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14030051
Clegg calls for major shakeup of British media:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/14/nick-clegg-phone-hacking-inquiry-media-shakeup
Miliband and Clegg seek ownership limits:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14175552
Cameron says no group should be too powerful:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/20/david-cameron-no-media-group-too-powerful
Phone hacking: 53 lies told to Parliament:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14806220
Cable calls for crackdown on media moguls:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-24/cable-wants-less-u-k-media-controlled-by-murdoch-other-moguls.html
