hello, i m with your top business stories. should one of britain s most influential newspapers be owned by the abu dhabi royal family? that s a question the uk government has been grappling with since the 169 year old daily telegraph agreed to a major investment from a uae backed firm late last year. redbird imi is backed by shekih mansour bin zayed al nahyan who also owns manchester city football club. the deal has been put on hold until later this month while uk media regulators examine it. but the man leading the bid, the former boss of cnn jeff zucker, has dismissed concerns about editorial interference by the gulf government at the telegraph and its sister magazine the spectator. speaking exclusively to our business editor simonjack, he said the deal will provide much needed investment in uk journalism. we think it is a two terrific brands that have been under invested in for a long time and is a great opportunity to export these brands, to invest in these brands, br
Jeff Zucker declares Andrew Neil is a hypocrite Jeff Zucker declares Andrew Neil is a hypocrite
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you sayjournalism needs democracy, that s the last thing abu dhabi provides, is it not? i mean, imi controls other media titles, the national, for example, a daily newspaper in english. for example, the story of princess latifa, member of the dubai ruling family, fled dubai in 2018, was forcibly returned. it was a big story in the western press. the national didn t cover it at all. are you seriously saying that journalists will be free to roam wherever they want given the ownership? i can guarantee that journalists will be free to roam wherever they want. there will be no involvement from imi, that s underpinned in our guarantees to the uk government through ofcom, that there will be complete and total editorial independence. we have now committed to an editorial trust board and that editorial board will have three specific responsibilities to ensure the editorial independence of these titles. that all disputes are handled, if they arise, by that editorial trust board. and that edito
the appointment of an editor. if the owners and 75% ownership will be with the abu dhabi royal family, they can appoint a board, they can dissolve it as well. we ve committed that the editorial trust board will be determined solely by redbird, and we ve made that in a legally binding commitment to the uk government. i remember when rupert murdoch had to give an extraordinary written promise that he would not interfere with the reporting of articles and he would let a board of outside directors decide on the future hiring and dismissal of editors. he said he would have no journalistic influence. that s considered something of a joke right now, and no one believes that s still true. all i can tell you is that we are absolutely committed to the legally binding commitments that we ve made to the uk government. i think breaking commitments you make to the government is not