The announcement that Cultural Secretary Jermeny Hunt’s has given the go ahead for News Corporation’s to takeover of the remaining share BskyB could have implication for communication landscape in Britain. If the takeover goes ahead, which is most likely, News Corp will own the largest share of British media giving it increasing power over British Public opinion. It also brings up questions over how much influence the Murdoch’s empire has over the British Government considering both Ofcom and Office of Fair Trading express concerns.
Public opinion is influenced by the media as it is a key channel of information and pluralism within the media means that people has access to a variety of opinion to form their belief. This means that if News Corp becomes the largest media owner in the UK it could have massive influence of public opinion and sharp it to its interest. Though News Corp agreed to cease control of Sky News it will still fund it, meaning that Sky News will still be very depends on New Corp!
This deal is not only worrying for News Corp’s future influence on public opinion and therefore British governmental policies, but also brings up question about its current influence on British government. The government agree to this deal which has huge financial possibility to News Corp regardless of the concerns of the independent bodies. This may suggest that the government is trying reward News Corp for their support during the election.
This announcement brings up many question of the influence of News Corp on the British government and policy. However, the fact that News Corps has have to make concession means that it must not be the all-powerful that many people claim
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