A vote on a law to ban foreign states from controlling majority ownership of British newspapers might block former CNN chief Jeff Zucker's plans to buy The Telegraph and The Spectator.
Zucker's bid to purchase the newspapers was submitted through RedBird IMI, a joint venture between Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital fund and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, which is primarily funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice president of the United Arab Emirates, Mediaite reported.
The legislative amendment to the Digital Markets Bill, which was to be announced Wednesday through Culture Minister Lord Parkinson in the House of Lords, would maintain sovereign operation of British news outlets.
Tory politicians pushed for the change to resist Zucker's bid to buy the publications. The law leaves room for deals not seen as allowing foreign state investments to have a significant influence on the country's news outlets, meaning Zucker's RedBird IMI could propose another bid with less stake from the UAE.
Zucker has promised to protect "editorial independence," saying that IMI would be a passive investor, but journalists and politicians have been raising concerns about the deal.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's recently appointed Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer stopped the deal's progress in December, issuing a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN). This promoted investigations from Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the deal and how it could affect press freedom.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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