Murdoch seeks to remove editorial independence rules at the Times

Rupert Murdoch has asked the government to abolish the legal restraints on him interfering in the editorial independence of the Times and the Sunday Times that were put in place when he first bought the newspapers.

At the moment the two newspapers are required to have largely separate editorial teams, while Murdoch nominally has to answer to a group of independent directors on key editorial matters.

News UK has now asked the government to abolish the independent directors, arguing that they are no longer required and were designed in a pre-internet era.

The company argues that there is no need for the legal protections because it would be “economically irrational” for Murdoch to interfere in the editorial position of the Times or the Sunday Times, as this could cause sales of his newspapers to fall.

Abolishing the legal undertakings would also pave the way for a full-blown merger between the Times and the Sunday Times, with staff on almost all non-news parts of the outlets working across both titles. News UK argues that this is required for financial reasons because of the long-term decline of print newspapers.

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