‘It can’t be right for Reform to have GB News as its own TV channel’
GB News has come under criticism in the media and the House of Commons, with a new report suggesting it is repeatedly failing to meet Ofcom guidelines. Is it simply a vehicle to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street?
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What’s the story?
Six years since GB News hit British TV screens, MPs have begun to question if it might not be playing by the rules.
“It is clear they have turned GB News into the Reform channel,” said Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons.
“We cannot let GB News propaganda turn our great country into their version of Trump's America.”
He asked Keir Starmer if government rules for broadcasters were either “not fit for purpose” or if Ofcom, the media regulation body, was failing to enforce them.
Starmer’s meek response that it was for Ofcom to “deal with it”.
But Ed Davey’s comments weren’t just plucked from the ether.
A report by The New Word made the initial claims, after an investigation found it to be failing in impartiality, balance, challenge – and every other rule British broadcasters are expected to work by.
Alan Rusbridger, the journalist who led the investigation, says Ofcom is "absolutely not" fit for purpose.
“Ofcom only acts if people complain,” he tells The News Agents.
“The problem with GB News is that it has a very loyal audience who are broadly Reform sympathetic – so they never complain about it.”
How the investigation worked - and what it found
The New World investigation tasked 20 journalists, from across the political spectrum, to review 15 hours of GB News output in terms of accuracy, impartiality, context, challenge – everything channels such as the BBC, ITV or Sky are expected to deliver for their viewers under Ofcom rules.
Those involved include journalists from The Economist, The Spectator, The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and GQ.
This output was ranked between 1 and 5 on how well it followed Ofcom guidelines – the higher the score, the closer it adhered to the rules. It received an overall score of 1.5 from the media professionals involved.
When presented with these findings, Ofcom told The New World it had received no complaints from viewers about the content its reviewers scored.
This, Rusbridger says, shows "the regulator is just not doing its job".
What has GB News said?
A spokesperson for GB News tells The News Agents that it was given “the scantest details” of the report before publication – and claims it is The New World’s reporting that is biased and impartial.
“This now makes perfect sense, because it is clear their so-called investigation is as partisan as it alleges our audience to be,” the spokesperson says.
“And its conclusions are as fundamentally flawed as its approach lacks objectivity and impartiality.”
They claim the channel “understands and complies” with Ofcom rules, and that it is “unafraid to cover the issues and stories that Britain cares about.”
Rusbridger describes this statement as "pot calling the kettle black."
Examples he gives of GB News failure to adhere to Ofcom standards include Matt Goodwin speaking about how he believed Reform would win the Gorton & Denton by-election four days before he was announced as its candidate.
Goodwin lost the by-election, but that's not the point.
Additionally, it found the same programmes would host numerous discussions on different migration stories, a topic Rusbridger describes as "Reform subjects", with its panel weighted 4/1 in favour of the host's opinion.
"There was bias throughout this program," he says.
"You couldn't keep a straight face unless you're a GB News spokesman and actually defend that as being impartial."
What does Ofcom say?
Ofcom tells The News Agents that it balances protecting viewers “from harm” and the rights to “freedom of expression”, and says it has taken action against GB News in recent years, when viewers have complained.
“Every complaint we receive after a programme airs is assessed against our rules by our experienced team of experts, and we investigate any concerns before publishing our findings,” a spokesperson says.
“Our rules around due impartiality and accuracy in news ensure that audiences are not misled, and are offered a range of alternative views and perspectives.”
Rusbridger believes Ofcom may be intimidated by the GB News’ "aggressive" challenge to official criticism, but also that its own lack of action is holding it back.
"I think the problem is that it's gone on so long now it's difficult now to see how they would step in," Rusbridger says.
"There is a new chairman arriving at Ofcom soon and it remains to be seen whether they will tighten this up.
"As Ed Davey said, it can't be right for one political party to effectively have their own channel."