Rupert Murdoch: Australians sign petition demanding probe into billionaire media empire

The petition before Parliament was launched just three weeks ago by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and closed on Wednesday. It calls for the “Royal Commission – Australia’s highest form of public inquiry – to investigate the dangers of media diversity.” He was also charged Encouraging media businesses to “deliberately polarize and politicize news.”

“We are particularly concerned that Australia’s print media is heavily controlled by the News Corporation, founded by Fox News billionaire Rupert Murdoch, which has about two-thirds of the daily’s readership.” “This power is regularly used to attack opponents in trade and politics by combining editorial opinion with news and reports.”

News Corp Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The publisher is one of the largest in the country and is the largest national owner Newspapers Australian Australian and tabloids such as the Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun.

Rud is used Social media to respond To apply.

“Half a million Austral Australians have spoken. They have broken records to make their voices heard: democracy Australia needs a #MurdocurialCommunity to save the lifespan of our democracy,” he said. He said in a tweet.

The petition is likely to be tabled in Australia’s House of Representatives, but legislators He is not obliged to take action.

It is clear what the media believes is the toxic effect of Rad Maddock’s properties. He described the billionaire’s news empire as a “cancer on democracy” in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and compared it to the Mafia in an interview with CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stalter in May.

“It has become a joke to call the Murdoch Media Empire these days a journalist organization committed to bringing you fair and balanced news coverage around the world,” Rude said.

Murdoch’s media empire spans the globe, and his role has also come under scrutiny in the United Kingdom, where News Corp has newspapers, including The Sun and The Times.

In 2017, UK regulators spent months investigating the 21 15 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox’s proposed broadcaster Sky and how it would affect the media market. The government also examined whether Fox UK would support broadcasting standards.

That deal never materialized. Eventually Fox lost the Sky Tuni battle Com Com (CCZ), While Disney (DIS) Fox News Channel, excluding Fox Sports and Fox Broadcast Network – spent billions of dollars to select most of Fox’s assets.

Like many other news organizations, News Corp Australia Australia is facing disruptions to its business due to the Kovid-19 epidemic.

The company announced earlier this year that it would shut down dozens of local Australian newspapers and end production of most of its small publications in print as part of its business in the country.

The global media industry has been criticized for reducing coronavirus epidemic advertising demand.

– Michelle Toh contributed to this report.

.