GB News has been slapped with a £100,000 fine after airing n interview with Rishi Sunak. Media watchdog Ofcom decided that a segment called ‘People’s Forum: The Prime Minister’ – which saw the then-Prime Minister answer questions from members of the public on issues such as migration and the NHS – had breached impartiality rules.
Filmed in County Durham and broadcast on February 12, Ofcom said that the interview did not represent ‘an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints’. That gave Mr Sunak a ‘mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government’ in the run-up to the General Election, an Ofcom statement read.
However, GB News is challenging the original breach decision in this case by judicial review, which Ofcom is defending. Ofcom will not enforce this sanction decision until those proceedings are concluded.
Am Ofcom statement read: “Ofcom has today imposed a £100,000 financial penalty on GB News for breaking due impartiality rules. Ofcom’s earlier investigation found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented and given due weight in People’s Forum: The Prime Minister – a live, hour-long current affairs programme broadcast on 12 February 2024 – nor was due impartiality preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes.
“As a result, we concluded that the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election, in breach of Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code.
“Given the seriousness and repeated nature of this breach, Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of £100,000 on GB News Limited. We have also directed GB News to broadcast a statement of our findings against it, on a date and in a form determined by us.
“GB News is challenging our original breach decision in this case by judicial review, which we are defending. Ofcom will not enforce this sanction decision until those proceedings are concluded. “
Reacting to today’s development, GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said: “The announcement by Ofcom to impose sanctions upon GB News in relation to the People’s Forum is a direct attack on free speech and journalism in the United Kingdom.
“We believe these sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful. The High Court has already granted GB News permission to bring a judicial review to challenge Ofcom’s decision that the Programme was in breach of due impartiality requirements.
“The sanction proposed by Ofcom is therefore still subject to that legal challenge. The plan to sanction GB News flies in the face of Ofcom’s duty to act fairly, lawfully and proportionately to safeguard free speech, particularly political speech and on matters of public interest.
“We have believed from the very start the People’s Forum was an important piece of public interest programming, and that appropriate steps were taken to ensure due impartiality and compliance with the Broadcasting Code.
“It was designed to allow members of the public to put their own questions directly to leading politicians. GB News chooses to be regulated and we understand our obligations under the Code. But, equally, Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression and apply its rules fairly and lawfully.
“At the People’s Channel we will continue to fearlessly champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the United Kingdom. As we have all seen, this is needed more than ever.”