Stop Murdoch For Good

Photograph by 38 Degrees

The media regulator Ofcom has been consulting people on whether it should tighten up the rules on media ownership. On Friday, a small team of 38 Degrees volunteers headed down to Ofcom’s head office in London.  They handed in over 30,000 messages from 38 Degrees members who want to stop Murdoch for good.

Earlier this year, we helped stop Murdoch from taking total control of BSkyB. The hacking scandal smashed his bid to seize even more power –  but we know Murdoch doesn’t give up easily.  That’s why we’ve been collecting thousands of submissions to Ofcom calling for tough new rules to stop anyone controlling too much of the media. We also said we want details of any meetings between media corporations, government bodies and politicians to be made public.

In July, 38 Degrees members voted to keep campaigning on media corruption and the phone hacking scandal. 71% of us said we should demand new laws to tackle the influence of media barons. Right now, Ofcom officials will be starting to read the responses to the consulation – and they’ll be seeing tens of thousands of messages from us pushing them to stand up to the power of media moguls.

We’ll be watching out for Ofcom’s report and recommendations. Will they tell the government we need new tough rules on media ownership?  If they do, will the government listen? Reforming media laws came 7th in our recent members poll, so it looks like lots of us are keen to keep working together to stop Murdoch for good.