Murdoch targets BBC in reform call

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Mr Murdoch gave the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival - 20 years after his father, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, delivered the event's keynote speech.

He highlighted the scale of the BBC as a "threat" to independent journalism and hit out at its governing body BBC Trust and media regulator Ofcom, which he described as "unaccountable".

He said that boundaries between previously separate forms of communication such as TV, newspapers and publishing have eroded, creating an "all-media market".

"In this all-media marketplace, the expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision, which are so important for our democracy," he said.

Referring to George Orwell's 1984, Mr Murdoch said the book's message was more relevant than ever.

He said: "As Orwell foretold, to let the state enjoy a near-monopoly of information is to guarantee manipulation and distortion.

"The only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of independence is profit."

Mr Murdoch spoke of a "land-grab" spearheaded by the BBC.

"Being funded by a universal hypothecated tax, the BBC feels empowered and obliged to try to offer something for everyone, even in areas well served by the market," he said.