Campaign for Press and Brodcasting Freedom Stop Murdoch Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom & GMB | Page 3

Demonstration against
the takeover of Sky by
the Murdochs in 2011; the
same is happening again
LAWS AND ORDERS
Touch and go timing
The big questions in media politics
– Murdoch and Sky, phone-
hacking, Leveson and media
regulation – are entwined in a
chaotic timetable that could affect
the outcomes of them all
1
WILL THE GOVERNMENT activate
Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act?
This is the law, passed by Parliament in
2013, that would mean publishers having
to pay both sides’ costs in a defamation case
even if they won. This would happen if they had
failed to agree to arbitration of the case with a
recognised press regulator, as proposed by the
Leveson Inquiry report. The major newspaper
companies are dead against this because their
tame regulator IPSO is not formally recognised,
partly due to its refusal to set up a fair, accessible
and cheap arbitration service.
2
WILL THE GOVERNMENT allow the
second stage of the inquiry to take
place? This was intended to cover law-
breaking and improper conduct within
media organisations – mainly phone-hacking –
and whether police were complicit with them. It
was postponed because of the court cases over
phone-hacking and bribery of officials that have
now finished. The publishers are dead against
this for obvious reasons.
3
WILL THE GOVERNMENT approve
the buy-up of Sky TV by Murdoch’s
21st Century Fox company? There is a
major case running in the High Court
in which a number of phone-hacking victims are
suing News International, and their lawyers have
asked for access to email accounts used by James
Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, both then top
executives, as they are again now.
The victims claim the accounts will show
that up to 20 million emails were deleted in
government will oppose but may get through;
2010 and 2011, to destroy evidence of the pair’s
there is a lot of opposition to Murdoch media
complicity in the phone-hacking operation,
in both houses of Parliament. Contentious
after police launched their criminal investiga-
amendments often go through the Lords at the
tion. News International (now called News UK)
last minute in the rush to get legislation through
contends that any deletion of emails was part of
in time, and the DE Bill has a very tight deadline.
normal housekeeping.
It has to be enacted in law by MARCH ≥±,
If the order is granted the revelations could
because one of its provisions is the transfer
be highly embarrassing to the two bosses, but
of the regulation of the BBC from the current
especially James Murdoch who is boss of both
BBC Trust to Ofcom; the Trust will be wound up
sides – chairman of Sky and chief executive
that day and Ofcom take the reins on APRIL ±.
of Fox – in the Sky takeover. The judge was
Puttnam’s little grenade could just slip under the
expected to grant the order on MARCH ±∞,
door in time for Ofcom to apply it.
but legal delays are now likely to put back the
Ofcom should be starting its scrutiny of
decision until May.
the takeover on MARCH ≤∞, with 40 days to
His particular worry is that it could lead to a
complete it, that is by MAY ±. Its conclusion
finding that Fox is not a “fit an