GB News star Michelle Dewberry did not hold back in a fiery rant about Ofcom’s GB News People’s Panel ruling.
The media watchdog ruled that the People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, which saw Rishi Sunak take questions from the audience during a live hour-long programme on February 12, broke broadcasting due impartiality rules.
Ofcom said on Monday that GB News’s compliance with its guidelines was “wholly insufficient”.
Speaking on Dewbs & Co, Michelle questioned the level of scrutiny afforded to The People’s Channel.
Michelle Dewberry has hit out at an Ofcom ruling
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“The clue was in the title. It was a forum with the Prime Minister”, she said.
“Ofcom are saying for example, neither the Labour Party’s views or positions were given due weight or included in the programme. It wasn’t a conversation with Keir Starmer on Labour’s position.
“This was intended to be a series. We had absolutely reached out to the likes of Keir Starmer, Ed Davey and Richard Tice so those guys could reach out to you.
“The audience were nothing to do with GB News. We used an independent organisation who got a mixture of different viewers with different voting intentions, perhaps some didn’t have any voting intentions.
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“It all seems very odd to me, the level of scrutiny piled onto GB News is like nothing I’ve seen before.
“Online campaigns whipped up by people absolutely desperate to see the back of us. Why?
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“Adam Boulton put it beautifully when he said, ‘how dare GB News come along and upset the delicate broadcast ecology’, do you remember that conversation on Newsnight that did not have a single voice in support of GB News?
“Apparently that is alright. Make of it what you will, but make it make sense.”
Michelle Dewberry did not hold back as she hit out at Ofcom
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Rishi Sunak faced a grilling in County Durham GB NEWSA sanction could mean the People’s Channel being fined up to the maximum financial penalty of £250,000 or five per cent of its revenue, or having its licence shortened or revoked along with having to broadcast a correction or not to re-air the programme.
Ofcom said the episode received a total of 547 complaints and was “presented in the context of the forthcoming UK general election”.
They added there was “no issue with this programme’s editorial format in principle”.
In a statement, GB News 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 media watchdog also said: “We recognised that this programme would focus mainly on the Conservative Party’s policies and track record on a number of specific issues, meaning that Conservative viewpoints would be prevalent.
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“We are clear that this, in and of itself, did not mean the programme could not comply with due impartiality rules under the code.
“It was incumbent on GB News, however, given the major matters under discussion, to ensure that an appropriately wide range of significant views was given due weight in the programme or in other clearly linked and timely programmes.”
Ofcom said GB News should have taken “additional steps to mitigate” risks because of the “very high compliance” needed.
“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,” the media watchdog said.
“We have therefore recorded a breach of rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code against GB News.”