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Originally Posted by nialli
That's not surprising - they cleared it last time, too. What's more likely derail any purchase is the OFCOM investigation as to the suitability of the Murdochs to run such an influential British media company. The recent issues around Fox News' unsubstantiated "Fake News" stories being quoted as fact verbatim by the US President isn't going to help Rupert and James a great deal...
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It's not Fox's inaccuracy and bias that's the issue but its corporate governance. There is a federal investigation into the payment made to Laurie Luhn, a former Fox News talent booker who was paid a secret $3.1m settlement for allegations made against former chairman Roger Ailes. The issue is that this payment and potentially others have not been filed with the SEC, as required by law. The Federal probe is also investigating whether the pay-offs were systematically concealed from investors.
New allegations have drawn in other Fox News talent. On Monday, Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky sued Fox News naming Bill Shine (co-president) alongside Ailes and Fox News itself. Roginsky claimed that the company ignored her complaints of harrassment at the hands of Ailes and that Shine retaliated against her. Three black employees have alleged discrimination by Judith Slater, Fox's long-time controller. Fox has dismissed her but the three employees are now suing Dianne Brandi, the channel's top legal officer, as one of the plaintiffs alleged that she complained to Brandi in 2014 but no action was taken then.
There are also fresh allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse against presenter Bill O'Reilly, which have resulted in 30 companies pulling advertising from his programme.