The parents of Seth Rich, the murdered Democrat aide, have expressed their dismay at Fox News, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, for publishing a discredited story about their son which is at the centre of allegations of collusion between the broadcaster and the White House.



Joel Rich, the dead man’s father, told a radio station, NPR, that the news network’s story that wrongly claimed their late son was the source of hacked Democratic party emails was “almost as bad for us as when we first heard of Seth’s death”.

Mary Rich added that the story has damaged attempts to find her son’s killer. “This whole blown-up BS has taken the eye off the ball – and that just buckles me to my knees that they’ve damaged so much of trying to find who his murderer is.”

It led to critics of Rupert Murdoch on both sides of the Atlantic drawing parallels between the Seth Rich story and the News of the World hacking the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, saying it shows that Murdoch’s proposed £11.7bn takeover of Sky should not be allowed to go ahead.

One of those is Ed Miliband. The former Labour leader said the publication of the Seth Rich story had echoes of the hacking of Dowler’s phone. When it emerged that Dowler’s phone had been hacked in 2011 it eventually led to Murdoch pulling out of their previous bid for Sky.

Miliband said: “Six years ago people vowed that the anguish caused to grieving families like the Dowlers by the Murdoch empire would never be allowed again. Now in 2017 we see another grieving family – the parents of Seth Rich – also suffering deep anguish at the hands of that empire without so much as an apology.

“If ever an episode showed why the Murdochs should not be allowed more control of our media, it is this.”

[It] just buckles me to my knees that they’ve damaged so much of trying to find who his murderer is Mary Rich

Fox News had reported in May that Rich, who was killed in July last year, had been identified as WikiLeaks’ source in the email hack. The story was used by supporters of Donald Trump to debunk Russia’s role in the hack and its alleged distorting of last year’s presidential election. However, Fox News later retracted the story and said it was not “subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting”.



In a legal filing last week, Rod Wheeler, a regular Fox contributor, alleged that quotes from him in the article were fabricated and that it was part of a conscious effort to deflect public attention from the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He also claimed that the White House was given an advanced viewing of the article and the president had enthusiastically pushed for its publication.

The allegations have been made at an uncomfortable time for 21st Century Fox, the owner of Fox News, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James. Karen Bradley, the UK culture secretary, is deciding whether to refer a £11.7bn bid from Fox for the 61% of Sky that it does not own to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).



This week the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Bradley’s department, asked the media regulator Ofcom to do more work on the deal before she decides whether to refer it to the CMA. This means the takeover faces more delays and scrutiny.

Bradley has already said she plans to refer the deal to the CMA on the grounds of media plurality but it is understood she wants Ofcom to do more work on whether it should also be referred on the grounds of broadcasting standards. Bradley said at the end of June that she was minded not to refer the takeover on broadcasting standards.

A group of high-profile MPs including Miliband, and Avaaz, the campaign group, have threatened legal action if the government does not launch a full investigation into broadcasting standards.

Mark Lewis, a solicitor at Seddons who represented the Dowler family, also said he saw parallels between the cases: “While this is not the same as Milly Dowler in terms of the unlawful intrusion into her voicemail, it is the inexcusable intrusion into a family’s grief, which is particularly upsetting given it is based on false information.”



Fox has denied that there was collusion with the White House over the story and said claims that it was published to distract attention from the Russia scandal are “completely erroneous”. It said in a statement last week that the retraction of the story is still being investigated internally.

Sky’s share price eased to 955.57p on Wednesday, the lowest level since news of Murdoch’s bid – worth £10.75 a share – broke in December, indicating that investors are becoming concerned that the deal may not get done.

An investor in Sky, Crispin Odey, also cast doubt on the takeover by arguing that the offer undervalues the business. Odey, who is one of the top 20 investors in the business, originally backed 21st Century Fox’s bid when was announced in December but is reconsidering his support following a string of regulatory delays. “The truth is, the longer this goes on the more that I would be quite happy if it failed,” said Odey, who felt that Sky’s prospects were improving, making Fox’s original £10.75p offer “cheap”.

“[Fox is] getting it at what looks like quite a cheap price,” he told Reuters. “[The offer is] now starting to look rather mean.”

“Fox News has retained outside counsel on the matter,” a spokesperson for the network said in a statement. “Given that this is pending litigation, there will be no further comment.”