Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd claims impending media bargaining laws will entrench the power of Rupert Murdoch’s news empire. Rudd said Australian media was undergoing a “Fox News-isation” and was breeding climate change denialism and encouraging far-right political extremism. “The Murdoch media empire has campaigned viciously against one side of politics,” he said. Rudd is fronting a parliamentary inquiry into media diversity after a petition he started garnered over 500,000 signatures from Australians. Rudd announced the petition in October via Twitter, calling on the federal parliament to investigate the abuse of media monopoly, particularly in relation to Murdoch’s interests. “The truth is Murdoch has become a cancer, an arrogant cancer, on our democracy,” Rudd said in the video launching the petition. Rudd told the hearing that “everyone’s frightened of Murdoch.” Senior executives from News Corp and Nine Entertainment will also attend the hearing and argue Australians have access to a diverse range of news …