Straight from my email inbox: here is the update on the petition organised by the peeps at 38 Degrees I've received today... proving, once again, that online petitions do work.
(For those of you who've missed it, the petition was posted on here, by the way.)
This is great news (but not for Rupert Murdoch, obviously) and definitely worth a read.
Enjoy and stay safe!
Loup Dargent
The Email:
"Dear Loup,
This is huge. You - along with thousands of other people - have helped throw a major spanner into Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of Sky. Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, just announced an investigation into the takeover. [1]
This means that instead of getting waved through, Murdoch’s plan faces a fresh obstacle. Ofcom, the media watchdog, now has to look into Murdoch’s dodgy media empire. Spoiler alert: Rupert Murdoch probably won't like what they say. [2]
Here’s how we helped make this happen:
- When news broke about his takeover back in December, we sprung into action. Over 319,000 of us signed a petition asking Karen Bradley to refer the deal. [3] We delivered it straight to the government - and it was covered in national newspapers! [4]
- When we found out Karen Bradley was on BBC Question Time, we all chipped in to drive a huge mobile billboard to the studio, so it was right in front of her as she arrived. 38 Degrees-ers took to Twitter, sending thousands of tweets asking her to refer the deal. [5]
- Next, we crowdfunded an advert in a national newspaper with the total petition signatures, asking Karen Bradley to stop the deal - even when other papers refused to publish it because it was so controversial. [6]
- And on the same day, we parked the mobile billboard outside Karen Bradley's office, the Department of Media, Culture and Sport - and delivered hundreds of leaflets to her staff as they arrived for work. [7]
Last time Rupert Murdoch made a bid to take over Sky, it was public opposition to the phone hacking scandal that stopped him. [8] Today's news proves that if enough of us get involved we can stop him again. [9]
It's not everyday you can say that you've helped stop someone as powerful as Rupert Murdoch. So please take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back.
Today's news is a huge step towards stopping the takeover. In the next few weeks, we will have more to do. But for now, why not take a minute to watch this video on all we’ve done - then share it with your family and friends?
Thanks for being involved,
Maggie, Holly, David, Jo and the 38 Degrees team
NOTES:
[1] BBC News: Fox takeover bid for Sky to be reviewed
Gov.uk: Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Statement from Culture Secretary: Sky/21st Century Fox merger:
[2] The Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, has asked Ofcom to investigate the Sky deal on two grounds, plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards: Gov.uk: Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Statement from Culture Secretary: Sky/21st Century Fox merger
[3] 38 Degrees petition: Stop Murdoch taking over Sky
[4] The Guardian: Murdoch Sky bid is ‘serious threat to our democracy’
[5] 38 Degrees blog: Tweet Karen Bradley!:
[6] The advert ran full page in the Daily Mail, on Page 32. The Daily Telegraph refused to run it!
[7] 38 Degrees blog: Karen Bradley - Stop Murdoch taking over Sky
[8] 38 Degrees blog: Victory - Murdoch withdraws BSkyB bid
[9] Together we’ve been working with our friends at Avaaz, the Media Reform Coalition, Hacked Off, and others to stand up against the deal. "