Ofcom Finds GB News in Breach of Broadcasting Rules with Rishi Sunak Program

[Social Media]

 

GB News may face sanctions after the UK’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, determined that the channel's program featuring Prime Minister Rishi Sunak violated impartiality guidelines. The show, titled 'People's Forum: The Prime Minister,' aired on 12 February and allowed members of the public to ask questions to Sunak. Despite this interactive format, the program received 547 complaints and has sparked significant controversy.

 

Ofcom's investigation concluded that the program breached rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code, which require broadcasters to maintain impartiality, especially during the run-up to elections. The regulator stated that while the show's format was acceptable in principle, it failed to provide an adequately balanced representation of views. According to Ofcom, "due weight" should have been given to an "appropriately wide range of significant views" beyond those of the Conservative Party.

 

"We consider that the Prime Minister had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election," Ofcom explained in its ruling. The watchdog emphasized that alternative viewpoints should have been integrated within the same program or in other linked and timely broadcasts. GB News has strongly contested Ofcom's ruling, arguing that it stifles democratic discourse. The channel described the decision as "an alarming development in its attempt to silence us" and claimed it "strikes at the heart of democracy." 

 

"The regulator's threat to punish a news organization with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital," the channel asserted. GB News emphasized that the audience consisted of an independently selected group of undecided voters who had the freedom to question the Prime Minister without prior interference from producers or Sunak himself.

 

During the hour-long broadcast, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced questions from the public on a variety of issues. GB News maintained that the program kept Sunak "under constant pressure" and covered a "clearly diverse range of topics." Despite these claims, Ofcom's ruling suggests that the show did not sufficiently balance these discussions with counterpoints or views from other political perspectives.

 

Following Ofcom's findings, the regulator has initiated the process for considering a statutory sanction against GB News. This development could lead to penalties, though the specifics of these potential sanctions have yet to be determined. The ruling and subsequent response from GB News underscore the ongoing tensions between media regulation and the principles of free speech and journalistic independence.

 

The ruling comes at a critical time, as the UK approaches its next General Election. Media impartiality is particularly scrutinized during such periods to ensure fair and balanced coverage of political parties and their policies. Ofcom's decision highlights the importance of upholding these standards to maintain public trust in broadcasting and democratic processes.

 

Credit: Sky News 2024-05-21

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

 

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

GB News being part of the Conservative Client Media is no shock to anyone.

 

Ofcom’s tardy response to long standing bias is the issue here.

[JonnyF]

Ofcom should be looking at the BBC. If they weren't firmly in their pocket of course. 

[roquefort]

8 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

GB News being part of the Conservative Client Media is no shock to anyone.

 

Ofcom’s tardy response to long standing bias is the issue here.

Whereas of course the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and the Guardian are completely unbiased news media. 

 

There is a long-standing vendetta by Ofcom against GB News for daring to express opinions which do not conform to the left wing establishment narrative.

[Bday Prang]

11 hours ago, Social Media said:

The regulator's threat to punish a news organization with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital," the channel asserted. GB News emphasized that the audience consisted of an independently selected group of undecided voters who had the freedom to question the Prime Minister without prior interference from producers or Sunak himself.

Compared to the BBC standard model where members of the audience are hand picked for their political views and quickly silenced when they ask the "wrong " questions.  Sunak was not given a free platform to promote himself or his policies, he was actually royally roasted by the audience.

It needs to be understood that there are people watching the channel for no other reason than to find something to  complain about however obscure, and when they do latch on to something, they spread it all over social media along with a link informing others where they can register their complaint, whether they actually saw it or not is irrelevant.   In some cases they complain even before the programme has been broadcast

Its a targeted campaign by leftys who just cant abide people getting access to the truth which is invariably unpalatable to their left wing sensitivities

[Bday Prang]

6 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Ofcom should be looking at the BBC. If they weren't firmly in their pocket of course. 

channel 4 deserves further scrutiny too but it will never happen. Ofcom is staffed by the wokest of the woke and as such is not fit for purpose

[Bday Prang]

brings to mind the atrocious episode of question time in which the leader of the BNP Nick Griffin was subjected to an hour of abuse by hand picked left wing activists,  as it turned out he handled himself pretty well under the circumstances and it backfired on the BBC who where actually widely criticised. A clear case of shooting themselves in the (left) foot    Free speech is very low on the lefty's list of priorities, and there is a lot they don't want people to know about

[Bday Prang]

GB news should be allowed to broadcast without any hindrance at all , If only to compensate for the left wing dribble drip fed to us daily by all the other openly left wing members of the media . Apparently the BBC are trusted to monitor themselves, what could possibly be the result of that ?  

[Bday Prang]

is it necessary to even think about investigating, after a pathetic 547 people complained.  Further research into the nature complainers would however explain a lot, many will not have even seen the programme, ever

[Chomper Higgot]

2 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

GB news should be allowed to broadcast without any hindrance at all , If only to compensate for the left wing dribble drip fed to us daily by all the other openly left wing members of the media . Apparently the BBC are trusted to monitor themselves, what could possibly be the result of that ?  

You might want to check who’s the DG of the BBC.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

17 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You might want to check who’s the DG of the BBC.

 

 

And on the other hand I might not

[Thingamabob]

Ridiculous. GB News is far less biased and more diverse than any other UK news channel.

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

Ridiculous. GB News is far less biased and more diverse than any other UK news channel.

totally agree and its pretty much all I watch if i'm in the UK. The only thing I find annoying are the token lefties they are obliged to give airtime to in order to appease the woke ofcom regs. listening to them trying to  argue that black is white can actually be  rather painful and sometimes I actually feel embarrassed for them, that benjamin butterworth character is probably the worst of them all. From the smug smirk on his face its obvious even he does not believe some of the rubbish he comes out with

 

[Baht Simpson]

Any public appearance by Sunak now is a guaranteed win for Labour. I'd have him on more for his transparent insincerity. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

Ridiculous. GB News is far less biased and more diverse than any other UK news channel.

 

Righttttt..... literally!  Hardly a surprise to find all GB's loyal fans posting here...  But pretty clear who's telling porkies more often.

 

 

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/gb-news-uk-bias/

 

 

vs BBC:

 

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/bbc/

 

[RayC]

7 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

Compared to the BBC standard model where members of the audience are hand picked for their political views and quickly silenced when they ask the "wrong " questions.

 

The process governing audience selection for programmes such as QT would suggest otherwise 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5HrMm77Yz7vwzCZZ570nTdp/frequently-asked-questions

[Bday Prang]

15 hours ago, RayC said:

 

The process governing audience selection for programmes such as QT would suggest otherwise 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5HrMm77Yz7vwzCZZ570nTdp/frequently-asked-questions

well whatever the process is supposed to be , its common knowledge that it was a total militant lefty audience on that particular show, I watched it and it was actually embarrassing to witness 

[johng]

On 5/21/2024 at 3:32 AM, Social Media said:

During the hour-long broadcast, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced questions from the public on a variety of issues.

 

Was this the same program that a couple of vaccine injured victims confronted Sunak  ?

[Bday Prang]

8 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Was this the same program that a couple of vaccine injured victims confronted Sunak  ?

yes 

[johng]

4 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

yes 

Aha well the murky picture becomes a bit clearer then.

[Chomper Higgot]

21 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

totally agree and its pretty much all I watch if i'm in the UK. The only thing I find annoying are the token lefties they are obliged to give airtime to in order to appease the woke ofcom regs. listening to them trying to  argue that black is white can actually be  rather painful and sometimes I actually feel embarrassed for them, that benjamin butterworth character is probably the worst of them all. From the smug smirk on his face its obvious even he does not believe some of the rubbish he comes out with

 

So you argue GB news is not biased but are annoyed by the ‘token lefties’ they are obliged to give airtime to.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

15 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

So you argue GB news is not biased but are annoyed by the ‘token lefties’ they are obliged to give airtime to.

 

 

Remind me please, which broadcaster was it that  refused to condemn Hamas as terrorists after the october atrocities, I don't think it was GB news

[Chomper Higgot]

43 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Remind me please, which broadcaster was it that  refused to condemn Hamas as terrorists after the october atrocities, I don't think it was GB news

I have no idea what you are referring to.

 

Certainly not demonstrating that GB News is not biased.

[Bday Prang]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I have no idea what you are referring to.

 

Certainly not demonstrating that GB News is not biased

           And the program in  question hardly demonstrates that it is , Something you would be all too aware of if you had actually watched it.     I would have thought that  a randomly picked audience giving Sunak a hard time on TV would be right up your street but no apparently not for some reason,   How strange, 

             You do realise that they plan to put Starmer under the spot light  in exactly the same way,( he certainly won't get an easy time either)  and several other party leaders too, all seems quite fair to me, as it probably does to just about everybody except you and a handful of left wing activists

              The truth is you didn't even watch the show in question did you?  You are just jumping on the bandwagon , the sort of behaviour one expects from a sociology undergraduate at one of the lower calibre further education establishments, before they embark on a life funded by benefits 

              Most media sources have their own political biases, lefties like you can read the Guardian  or watch Sky or the BBC  so why do you object to those with right wing views having a channel that caters for them ?  You are not obliged to watch it and probably never have

[RayC]

On 5/21/2024 at 1:06 PM, Thingamabob said:

Ridiculous. GB News is far less biased and more diverse than any other UK news channel.

 

On 5/21/2024 at 2:44 PM, Bday Prang said:

totally agree and its pretty much all I watch if i'm in the UK. The only thing I find annoying are the token lefties they are obliged to give airtime to in order to appease the woke ofcom regs. listening to them trying to  argue that black is white can actually be  rather painful and sometimes I actually feel embarrassed for them, that benjamin butterworth character is probably the worst of them all. From the smug smirk on his face its obvious even he does not believe some of the rubbish he comes out with

 

 

Tonight's GB news schedule:

 

4:00pm Martin Daubney (former Reform party politician)

7:00pm Dewbs & Co Michelle Dewberry (Reform party member)

8:00pm Farage (Former Brexit party leader)

9:00pm Jacob Rees-Mogg's State of the Nation (Conservative party MP)

10:00pm Patrick Christys Tonight (no idea who he is or what is his political affiliation)

 

And you consider that line-up to be representative and less bias than the presenters on BBC News, Channel 4, ITV, CNN, etc?

[Bday Prang]

8 minutes ago, RayC said:

 

 

Tonight's GB news schedule:

 

4:00pm Martin Daubney (former Reform party politician)

7:00pm Dewbs & Co Michelle Dewberry (Reform party member)

8:00pm Farage (Former Brexit party leader)

9:00pm Jacob Rees-Mogg's State of the Nation (Conservative party MP)

10:00pm Patrick Christys Tonight (no idea who he is or what is his political affiliation)

 

And you consider that line-up to be representative and less bias than the presenters on BBC News, Channel 4, ITV, CNN, etc?

bias or not I don't really care, certainly looks like a good evenings viewing, if you don't like it nobody is forcing you to watch

[RayC]

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

bias or not I don't really care, certainly looks like a good evenings viewing, if you don't like it nobody is forcing you to watch

 

You're of course correct that no one can force me to watch GB News which is a blessing.

 

However, by no stretch of the imagination can it be claimed that GB News is somehow less bias than other media outlets. The political affiliations of tonight's presenters suggests the exact opposite.

[Baht Simpson]

It turns out that there were Tory councillors cosplaying the general public. Lol