A broad rejection of the UAE's acquisition of the Telegraph, with writers saying, " falling into the hands of the UAE, which does not know press freedom, will destroy the institution."
The Times
(CNN) 🔴 The Telegraph is facing an internal staff revolt over the prospect of an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund taking over the long-established newspaper.
mark Musgrave, the foundation's chief journalist, highlighted that female journalists working for the Telegraph are particularly worried about being influenced by the "misogyny of the Emirates", which is largely financing a 1.2 billion pound deal through the US-based investment company Redbird IMI to acquire the newspaper.
🔴 Three of the Telegraph's most prominent female columnists have written articles opposing the Emirati takeover - Camilla Tomini, Janet Daley and Susan Moore - and a fourth journalist is expected to join them this week.
Moore, who previously wrote for the Guardian, used her column in the Telegraph this week to ask if readers would be able to trust the newspaper if it fell into the hands of the UAE, a country that she said " does not know press freedom, will Writers be able to follow stories that could be embarrassing for the UAE and its friends?" After my experience at the Guardian, I can see a situation where some embarrassing things are not written about her."
🔴 On Sunday, senior staff were surprised by angry phone calls from readers in response to the Telegraph's Christmas Charity Appeal. Of the thousand or so calls to the hotline, the vast majority were said to have expressed disapproval of the UAE takeover of the newspaper.
🔴 A senior source told the newspaper: "We have reached the point where no one wants to work for a telegraph company that is owned by the United Arab Emirates. Our concern is that no one wants to buy a UAE-owned newspaper either. There is a feeling that the possible ownership of the Emirates will ruin the Telegraph."
🔴 The widespread rejection prompted the Telegraph to create a special email address on Monday for readers to broadcast their opinions on the possible deal.
🔴 There are fears among Telegraph executives that Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is politically weakened to block the deal, despite the government's announcement that it would intervene in the process last week. "He has so many problems on his plate that we are a low priority,"said one executive.
concerns were raised despite Lucy Fraser, the culture secretary, instructing media watchdog Ofcom to investigate whether the sale to RedBird IMI would affect the accurate presentation of news and freedom of expression. The competition and Markets Authority is also investigating.
Lloyds Banking Group has estimated that it made a profit of GBP 700 million after lending GBP 1.2 billion to the Barclay family to finance its Telegraph ownership as part of the RedBird IMI deal.
🔴 After being informed of the government's intention to scrutinize the deal, a spokesman for RedBird IMI said that he would continue to cooperate with ministers in this regard. "Red Bird IMI remains fully committed to maintaining the current editorial team of the Telegraph and spectator publications and believes that the editorial independence of this newspaper is necessary to protect its reputation and credibility,"he added.
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