Sale of stake in Independent to Saudi investor has ‘no influence’ on editorial coverage, watchdog rules
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Culture secretary will not appeal a tribunal hearing over referring the purchase to the CMA But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said today that Ms Morgan would not anyway have ordered an investigation, as Ofcom’s report went “a considerable way” towards allaying the public interest concerns originally raised by her predecessor Jeremy Wright earlier this year. Evgeny Lebedev, who retains a 40.69 per cent interest in IDNM and 60 per cent of LHL, said the editorial integrity of both the Evening Standard and The Independent had been “completely vindicated by Ofcom, as we knew it would be”. But after an analysis of Middle East coverage before and after the acquisition, Ofcom found “no evidence of any influence in practice in either the Evening Standard or The Independent news websites”, noting that articles containing critical views of Saudi Arabia continued to be published. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement: “Overall, the secretary of state’s conclusion is that Ofcom’s report goes a considerable way to satisfying her in relation to the public interest concerns relevant to this case, and based on Ofcom’s conclusions she would not have referred the case to a phase two investigation.” In a statement, a spokesperson for ESI Media said: “We are pleased, but not at all surprised, that the secretary of state has agreed with the conclusions of the CMA and Ofcom.
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