Sign this petition: get those dodgy Murdochs run out of town!

I got an email from Becky Luff at SumOfUs.org. Not much for me to add, so I’ll just repost what she wrote:

Dear Friends,

Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.”

This astounding quote from the House of Commons Select Committee — who have been investigating the role James and Rupert Murdoch played in the phone hacking scandal — has been splashed across the headlines.

But it’s not just Parliamentarians who are concerned by the Murdoch’s activities. Ofcom — the UK body responsible for licensing and regulating public broadcasting — began investigating the Murdoch-controlled BSkyB as a result of the News International phone hacking scandal, in order to assess whether BSkyB remains fit and proper to continue to hold its broadcast license.

Ofcom needs to follow the Select Committee’s lead, and deem Rupert Murdoch unfit to hold a UK broadcasting license. A huge public outcry will help show them they need to act quickly to revoke Murdoch’s BSkyB license, before more damage is done.

Sign our open letter to Ofcom telling it to revoke Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB license.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/murdoch-ofcom/?sub=taf

Despite BSkyB’s best efforts to distance themselves from the illegal activities of its parent company News Corporation, Ofcom has already made a connection by requesting evidence of phone hacking to include in its BSkyB investigation. With the Select Committee coming out strongly against Murdoch, it’s time for Ofcom to act and revoke Murdoch’s BSkyB license.

According to the Select Committee, the illegal phone hacking was merely a symptom of a much larger problem — a “culture permeated from the top” and one which shows a “lack of effective corporate governance”. A company like this should not be allowed to have a UK broadcasting license.

If Ofcom acts to revoke the license, the Murdochs will be forced out of UK broadcast media. What with this, the deluge of bad press News Corporation is receiving in the UK, and the number of politicians now looking to distance themselves from the family, we have a real chance of getting Murdoch’s biased and corrupt media empire out of the UK for good.

Join us in calling on Ofcom to revoke News Corporation’s broadcasting license of BSkyB.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/murdoch-ofcom/?sub=taf

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Further reading:

“Murdoch: The damning verdict” – The Independent, May 2012

“Ofcom studies phone-hacking evidence in BSkyB ‘fit and proper’ probe” – The Guardian, May 2012

Do us all a favour. Sign the letter. That Rupert Murdoch’s some piece of work, and you know what they about apples not falling far from the tree.

Did Mrs Murdoch assault the pie-thrower?

Yesterday Jonnie Marbles, the prankster who threw a “foam pie” at Rupert Murdoch as the media magnate gave evidence to a Commons select committee about “phone hacking”, pleaded guilty to assault and “causing harassment, alarm or distress“. I suppose that’s fair enough – but why hasn’t Murdoch’s wife been charged with the same offence? According to the Guardian newspaper, Murdoch’s wife, .”Wendi Deng, leapt to her husband’s defence, first slapping May-Bowles away and then throwing the plate at him as he was led away by police”. Jonnie Marbles was in police custody when she threw the pie, so her action can’t be excused as defending her aged husband. So, if part-time stand-up comedian Jonnie (real name Jonathan May-Bowles) is guilty of assault and harrassment, surely Mrs Murdoch is equally guilty?

Jonnie Marbles is being dealt with as an example, to show the world how seriously Britain takes parliamentary process. The judge in the case, district judge Daphne Wickham, was asked by Marbles’ solicitor if she could change the date when he has to return to court for sentencing as the date she set conflicts with Marbles’ booked family holiday. But she wouldn’t have any of it. Said a warrant would be issued for his arrest if he did not turn up.

She said: “He is on bail for a serious offence which carries a risk of imprisonment.

“It’s due process.

“He should have thought about this on the 19th of July when he committed these offences.”

Judge Daphne is just being stupid here. If throwing a “foam pie” at someone is a crime deserving of imprisonment, the world has gone utterly bonkers. Also, as I just pointed out Mrs Murdoch is guilty of the same crimes, so surely she should be arrested, and have her passport confiscated so she can’t flee back to the USA where she lives. But of course that won’t happen. It’s okay for the Murdochs to hack murder victims’ phones and “assault” people in a Commons committee room; but a mere mortal like Marbles must be treated like an evil fiend.

Luckily, Marbles hasn’t lost his sense of humour. Outside Westminster magistrates court, he said “I would just like to say this has been the most humble day of my life”, the very same comment made by Murdoch when he was giving evidence to the committee.

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