How could Hunt have managed to stray into the quicksand so carelessly?

Raymond Snoddy says at first sight Hunt’s decision not to go for an immediate referral was politically crazy, naïve even, by appearing to succumb to special pleading on such a politically sensitive issue. However, the truth is rather more complicated and not at all that it appears to be…

Earlier this month culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was asked during an on-stage interview at the London School of Economics whether he had read Michael Wolff’s book on Rupert Murdoch – The Man Who Owns The News.

Hunt said he had not.

He was strongly advised to do so before making his decision on whether to refer the Murdoch bid for the 61% of BSkyB that he does not already own to the Competition Commission.

It seems that Hunt hasn’t had the time so far.

For the book Wolff was given unprecedented access to Murdoch and to a very considerable extent the News Corporation chairman condemns himself out of his own mouth.

The key point, and it has been a constant throughout his long, and in many ways illustrious media career, is that when Murdoch really, really wants something he will say almost anything to get it.

The pattern runs all the way from his first acquisition of the News of the World, through The Times to the Wall Street Journal.

Of course the old owners will still be involved, independent editorial committees will be set up to protect the position of editors, the old editorial team will stay in place. There will be undertakings to take care of any concerns.

But as soon as the ink is dry on the deal everything changes. That was then. This is now.

I’m sure Murdoch always meant what he said at the time but as the Lib-Dems in the coalition happily argue, the circumstances have changed so the policy has to change too.

At first sight Hunt’s decision not to go for an immediate referral was politically crazy, naïve even, by appearing to succumb to special pleading on such a politically sensitive issue.

If you are wise, you don’t get into a detailed argument with the Murdoch empire – the business equivalent of hand-to-hand combat.  The modus operandi is to engage endlessly and, operating to a well-scripted plot, you are gradually reeled in.

Surely Hunt has been crazy to be so open-minded and would have been well advised to stand well back, take a deep breath and pass the poisonous package on to the Competition Commission.

The irony is, in an increasingly fragmented digital world, the case for an ADDITIONAL threat to the UK’s media pluralism from the deal, beyond that which exists already, is relatively weak.

In fact Murdoch could be so single-minded in pursuit of what he wants that it is not totally impossible that he would threaten to close down the loss-making Sky News to get the big deal through. He won’t of course but such an outcome really would be a threat to media plurality leaving us with just BBC News as the only domestic 24-hour television news provider.

The Competition Commission could easily come to a positive conclusion on the deal, perhaps with reservations and recommendations. Then Hunt could, with total respectability, accept the Commission’s conclusions.

How could Hunt, a clever man, have managed to stray into the quicksand so carelessly?

The truth is rather more complicated and not at all what it appears to be.

Above all else, the culture secretary is trying take a decision that will stand up in the face of the almost inevitable judicial review.

Steel yourself and read yesterday’s statement, and as much of the accompanying documentation that flesh and blood can bear published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and a different story starts to emerge.

Under the Enterprise Act, Hunt had no legal alternative but to engage with, and if required meet, any party that would be adversely affected by his decision – in this case potentially both News Corporation and BSkyB.

Hence the flurry of letters and densely argued legal documents that have come from the Murdoch camp.

As things stand at the moment, Jeremy Hunt does indeed intend to act on the Ofcom recommendation that there is a risk that media plurality could be damaged by the deal. He will therefore make a reference to the Commission perhaps within the next few weeks, although the delay could be much greater, unless News Corp persuades him otherwise.

Above all else, Hunt must scrupulously observe due process.

So far he has not been convinced by undertakings offered by the Murdoch side. These are thought to involve some sort of hiving off of Sky News – at least in terms of editorial control if not ownership.

It really would seem extraordinary to get rid of Sky News – even if anyone else was interested – at the very time when the channel is cracking ahead with its biggest foreign initiative, the launch of Sky News Arabia in a joint venture with Sheikh Mansour.

It is very difficult to see how something like that would work in practice or could be legally underpinned.

Hunt is taking no chances, and in the hopes of finding legal teeth to back up any undertaking, he has pointedly chosen to involve the Office of Fair Trading with advice from Ofcom in any decision.

The legal paperwork shows that News Corp is going for the weak link in the chain – Ofcom – attacking its definitions of media plurality and methods of research.

Will poor old Ofcom receive the first attentions from the judicial review lawyers on the grounds that its recommendation that the deal should be referred is not a reasonable one in the light of the evidence it has produced?

Then the News Corp lawyers will go one step further by trying to disrupt the link between Ofcom’s advice and the Hunt decision.

In a communication from Sky, it is pointedly argued that Ofcom’s role is only to “advise” the secretary of state in order to assist with his decision. It is up to Hunt himself to decide whether HE believes it is or may be the case that the proposed deal “operates or may be expected to operate against the public interest”. Bang. The Culture secretary appears to rely too heavily on Ofcom and he is off to the High Court.

You can see the bricks being put in place. After every hoop has been jumped through it would still be wise for Jeremy Hunt to refer the deal for a thorough examination by an independent body because of the sensitivity of his political position and the often unreasoning levels of anti-Murdoch paranoia in this country. It is the only way to put the matter to rest.

And yes, before he makes his decision, the culture secretary really should read The Man Who Owns The News and ponder the power of “undertakings” to control the behaviour of media moguls.