Australian Parliament to Probe Rupert Murdoch’s Media Dominance

c0lo writes:

Australian parliament to probe Rupert Murdoch's media dominance:

Australia's parliament will launch an inquiry into media ownership, a prominent senator said, after more than half a million people signed a petition demanding a probe into Rupert Murdoch's dominance of the news industry.

The online petition attracted a record number of signatories after being launched on October 12 by former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a frequent target of newspapers controlled by Murdoch's News Corp.

[...] The country's opposition parties united behind the move in the Senate to effectively sidestep the conservative government, which enjoys strong support from the Murdoch press and had not acted on the petition's demand for a royal commission.

In launching the petition, Rudd decried News Corp as a "cancer on our democracy" operating an effective "monopoly".

"This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting," the petition stated. "These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate."

Rudd and Turnbull will be called to give evidence at Senate inquiry into media diversity:

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