Sky News Australia chief executive officer Paul Whittaker has told a Senate inquiry into media diversity that Lachlan Murdoch has no role in directing Sky News Australia.
When pressed on the influence of News Corp non-executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, Mr Whittaker said he had little influence over Sky News coverage, saying he talks with Lachlan often and had lunch with him when he visited this year, but the Murdochs relied on their executives to run the company.
Murdoch's Sky News CEO has told parliament the company's co-chair Lachlan Murdoch has "no influence" on their coverage. Funny... that's not exactly what Lachlan himself was saying a couple of years ago. We all know the truth. #MurdochRoyalCommission / https://t.co/3ZKpxswe3U pic.twitter.com/vA2vBayPO6
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) September 6, 2021
It was revealed last week that Lachlan Murdoch declined his invitation to speak as a witness in Australia senate committee hearing.
Mr Whittaker blasted YouTube in his opening statement, saying YouTube’s actions shows that it is not a neutral platform, “but a publisher selectively broadcasting content and censoring certain views, while allowing videos that are patently false, misogynistic, and racist to proliferate”
YouTube took an unusual step of removing 23 Sky News videos from the platform and suspending the network for a week.
In a tense exchange, Mr Whittaker rejected a suggestion from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young that Sky promoted “disinformation” and “Covid lies”.
The #MurdochRoyalCommission Senate Inquiry resumes today, examining Murdoch's promotion of pandemic denialism, anti-vaccine propaganda & far-right conspiracy theories about COVID-19. No wonder Lachlan is too cowardly to front up to scrutiny. LIVE from 9am: https://t.co/3ZKpxswe3U pic.twitter.com/J3SZkzGsip
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) September 5, 2021
