Failing and increasingly angry two-tier media regulator Ofcom has discovered a new route to censor current affairs programming. It just launched an ominously titled consultation document called: “politicians presenting news”…
The move comes months after a slam-dunk legal judgement by the High Court which ruled that Ofcom had unlawfully deemed GB News to have broken broadcast rules. The High Court’s central ruling was that Jacob Rees-Mogg’s current affairs show wasn’t a news programme – and as such, it was fine for him to present it. Therefore there was “no plausibly contended justification” for finding GBN in breach of the rules…
Yet in this document, the watchdog appears to propose new rules – which if enacted – could see Ofcom effectively able to vet which politicians can and can’t appear on your screens as presenters. All while their documents make out that no such change is taking place at all…
Moreover, under Ofcom’s draconian Rule 5.4, TV channels are forbidden from broadcasting anything discussing the regulator’s policy process itself. Ofcom will be only be satisfied when the sole news presenter on TV is that North Korean news anchor…
UPDATE: An Ofcom spokesman said: “Politicians would still be able to present programmes under this proposed rule change. However, they would not be able to present news. Ofcom is not a censor and does not vet presenters. The purpose of Rule 5.4 is to safeguard against broadcasters using their channels and stations to advance their own views on matters of political controversy or current public policy.”
Kemi Badenoch defended her decision not to force Tory councils to hold elections in May, telling GB News:
“It is Conservative policy that we should have elections, but I’m not a dictator. You know Nigel Farage, no one else makes any decisions, he’s a one-man band.”