OFCOM has twisted itself into legal tangle worthy of Gilbert and Sullivan in handling GB News, self-defined as "Britain's News Channel".
Under previous Content Director Kevin Bakhurst, an construct emerged in which 'news bulletins' within GB News were subject to full-on impartiality rules, whereas the discussions and interviews in between were, in his view, 'current affairs', with presenters allowed to express their own views, as long as alternative viewpoints appear.
Ofcom's Broadcast Code, section 5.3, is quite clear: "No politician may be used as a newsreader, interviewer or reporter in any news programmes unless, exceptionally, it is editorially justified. In that case, the political allegiance of that person must be made clear to the audience." Yesterday's five decisions against GB News found no editorial justification for Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey and Philip Davies covering 'news stories' in script or in two-ways with correspondents, and from now on, GB News' MP presenters will have to hand to Paula Middleton or some other hack to introduce either 'breaking news' or interviews with their own reporters at the scene of news events.
Ofcom has taken eight months to reach a conclusion on these cases, with the verdicts taking 80 pages to explain. Even the summary is a word salad: "Politicians have an inherently partial role in society and news content presented by them is likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias. In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news."
The credibility of broadcast news is being undermined round-the-clock at GB News, and Ofcom is fiddling around with who-reads-what issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment