Murdoch attacks BBC and regulators

NEWS Corporation chief James Murdoch last night called for a radical overhaul of broadcasting in Britain to preserve journalistic independence and fuel innovation.

Mr Murdoch gave the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival — 20 years after his father, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, delivered the event’s keynote speech.

Mr Murdoch, who is chairman and chief executive, Europe and Asia, of News Corporation and non-executive chairman of BSkyB, said that boundaries between previously separate forms of communication such as TV, newspapers and publishing have eroded, creating an “all-media market”. He highlighted the scale of the BBC as a “threat” to independent journalism and hit out at its governing body, BBC Trust, and media regulator Ofcom, which he described as “unaccountable”.