GB News has hit back against Ofcom’s decision to uphold claims the GB News People’s Forum with The Prime Minister breached rules.
Ofcom announced the Forum broke impartiality rules and is threatening the channel with a sanction.
But GB News stressed it could not understand how the programme lacked the “appropriately wide range of significant views” required to uphold due impartiality.
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A GB News spokesman said: “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.
The audience of the People’s Forum: The Prime Minister
GB News
“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.
The audience for the People’s Forum was independently selected
GB News
“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.
Rishi Sunak was asked 15 questions, which neither GB News nor the Prime Minister saw beforehand
GB News
“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.
Among many other challenges, the Prime Minister was criticised on the betrayal of those injured by the Covid vaccine
GB News
“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.”
Ofcom ruled that while it had no issue with the programme’s format in principle, an “appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented.”
The media watchdog said: “We found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented and given due weight in this case.
“As a result, Rishi Sunak had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election.
“GB News failed to preserve due impartiality.
“Our decision is that this breach was serious and repeated. We will therefore consider this breach for the imposition of a statutory sanction”
GB News, which has been targeted by a far-left advertising boycott since before it even launched, recently announced a membership scheme to allow viewers who want to support the channel to do so directly.
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Source Agencies
