Ofcom has now concluded its investigation into GB News’ “People’s Forum” and found that it broke their due impartiality rules. The regulator says:
As a result Ofcom says “GB News’s approach to compliance” was “wholly insufficient” and as such rules 5.11 and 5.12, which deal with due impartiality requirements, were broken. Ofcom says it’s now looking into statutory sanctions and will make a decision within 60 days…
UPDATE: GB News hits back, at the ruling, pointing out that the “live programme gave an independently selected group of undecided voters the freedom to challenge the Prime Minister without interference… Among many other challenges, the Prime Minister was criticised over the ‘chronic underfunding’ of social care, the housing shortage, the likely failure of his government’s Rwanda plan, the betrayal of those injured by the Covid vaccine, and asked why the LGBT community should vote for him.”
Read GB News’ full response below:
“Ofcom’s finding against GB News today is an alarming development in its attempt to silence us by standing in the way of a forum that allows the public to question politicians directly.
The regulator’s threat to punish a news organisation 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.GB News is the People’s Channel. That is why we created a new broadcasting format, The People’s Forum, which placed the public – not journalists – firmly in charge of questioning Rishi Sunak.
Our live programme gave an independently selected group of undecided voters the freedom to challenge the Prime Minister without interference.
They did this robustly, intelligently, and freely. Their 15 questions, which neither we nor the Prime Minister saw beforehand, kept him under constant pressure and covered a clearly diverse range of topics. These were their words on the issues that mattered to them.
Among many other challenges, the Prime Minister was criticised over the ‘chronic underfunding’ of social care, the housing shortage, the likely failure of his government’s Rwanda plan, the betrayal of those injured by the Covid vaccine, and asked why the LGBT community should vote for him.
We cannot fathom how Ofcom can claim this programme lacked the “appropriately wide range of significant views” required to uphold due impartiality. It did not.
We maintain that the programme was in line with the Broadcasting Code.Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of speech and not to interfere with the right of all news organisations to make their own editorial decisions within the law.
Its finding today is a watershed moment that should terrify anyone who believes, as we do, that the media’s role is to give a voice to the people of the United Kingdom, especially those who all too often feel unheard or ignored by their politicians.
We are proud to be the People’s Channel and we will never stop fighting for the right of everyone in the UK, whatever their political persuasion, to have their perspective heard.”
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”