In a submission to the government consultation, which closed at midday today, the union criticised News Corp's proposal to spin off Sky News into a separate company to ensure editorial independence.
Under the proposal, News Corp would be left with a 39.1 per cent stake in the new company, Newco, with the rest of the shares distributed among existing shareholders of BSkyB in line with their shareholdings.
Newco's board will be made up of a majority of independent directors, including an independent chair, and a corporate governance and editorial committee made up of independent directors.
"The proposed spin-off company would have only a formal independence while in reality remaining deeply dependent on News Corp," the union claimed in a submission prepared by research officer Andy Egan.
"Surely the purely formal appearance of independence should not be enough to negate the need for a referral to the Competition Commission?"
In its submission, which was published yesterday on the union website, Bectu also said that it does not accept that competition issues "have been satisfactorily dealt with and that we are dealing solely with issues of media pluralism and editorial independence".
"The sheer size and reach of the proposed merged company gives rise to clear concerns that it would be anti-competitive," the submission adds.
Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt announced earlier this month that he had accepted the proposal by News Corporation to hive off Sky News as an undertaking in its bid for BSkyB.
According to the department for culture, media and sport, if after the consultation Hunt still feels that the proposal to spin off Sky News under a separate publicly limited company will sufficiently address concerns over media plurality then the merger will not be referred to the Competition Commission. In January, prior to undertakings being submitted, Hunt had said he intended to refer the bid to the Commission following a recommendation from Ofcom.
In its submission Bectu calls on Hunt to refer the proposed merger to the Competition Commission and also the government to "institute a broader review of the statutory framework governing the public interest in media pluralism".
News Corporation declined to comment.
Image by Mike Knell on Flickr. Some rights reserved
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