THE First Minister, Alex Salmond, has again been criticised for his relationship with media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, this time for not recognising the potential impact on the media landscape had Murdoch’s News Corporation succeeded in its now dropped bid to acquire a controlling stake in the satellite broadcaster, BSkyB.
In today’s Scotsman, columnist Brian Wilson quotes the BBC’s business editor, Robert Peston, saying that had the deal gone through, the resulting entity would have dwarfed all rivals, “even the BBC”.
The News Corp bid was dropped following the phone hacking allegations which led to the closure in July of its News of the World newspaper.
Salmond – who has been criticised recently for his relationship with Murdoch, including a relatively recent meeting – last week argued that his motivation regarding BSkyB was jobs prospects in Scotland.
