Britain’s media regulator Ofcom is under pressure to investigate a GB News interview with Donald Trump after complaints that it contained misleading and inaccurate claims that the network failed to challenge.
The rightwing channel claimed a “world exclusive sit-down interview” with the US president in November, in which Trump asserted that human-induced climate change was “a hoax” and that London had no-go areas for police and that the capital had “sharia law”.
Trump made other claims about law and order and immigration that critics said were either left unchallenged or effectively endorsed by the GB News interviewer Bev Turner, the host of its US-based nightly show.
Among those calling for an investigation is Chris Banatvala, Ofcom’s founding director of standards. He told the Guardian he had “never seen anything comparable on a UK-established domestic broadcaster”.
Ofcom officials have spent the last few weeks examining at least three detailed complaints co-signed by tens of thousands of people, but have not yet decided whether to launch a formal investigation. The regulator is facing increasing accusations that it is reluctant to intervene over politically difficult issues of impartiality.
The complaints point to rules stating broadcasters must not “materially mislead the audience” and rules around due impartiality.
A complaint from Bob Ward, from the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, focused on Trump’s claims about human-induced climate change. Trump stated: “The whole thing is a hoax … but your country is one of the worst.”
Trump also made disputed claims about the red tape and taxes related to drilling in the North Sea, as well as stating that wind power was “the most expensive energy you can get”. This is contradicted by recent research.
limeflavoured on
GBNews know that OFCOM won’t do anything, so I doubt they care.
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Britain’s media regulator Ofcom is under pressure to investigate a GB News interview with Donald Trump after complaints that it contained misleading and inaccurate claims that the network failed to challenge.
The rightwing channel claimed a “world exclusive sit-down interview” with the US president in November, in which Trump asserted that human-induced climate change was “a hoax” and that London had no-go areas for police and that the capital had “sharia law”.
Trump made other claims about law and order and immigration that critics said were either left unchallenged or effectively endorsed by the GB News interviewer Bev Turner, the host of its US-based nightly show.
Among those calling for an investigation is Chris Banatvala, Ofcom’s founding director of standards. He told the Guardian he had “never seen anything comparable on a UK-established domestic broadcaster”.
Ofcom officials have spent the last few weeks examining at least three detailed complaints co-signed by tens of thousands of people, but have not yet decided whether to launch a formal investigation. The regulator is facing increasing accusations that it is reluctant to intervene over politically difficult issues of impartiality.
The complaints point to rules stating broadcasters must not “materially mislead the audience” and rules around due impartiality.
A complaint from Bob Ward, from the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, focused on Trump’s claims about human-induced climate change. Trump stated: “The whole thing is a hoax … but your country is one of the worst.”
Trump also made disputed claims about the red tape and taxes related to drilling in the North Sea, as well as stating that wind power was “the most expensive energy you can get”. This is contradicted by recent research.
GBNews know that OFCOM won’t do anything, so I doubt they care.