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GB News collaboration with the Trump organisation- Do you think it undermines British democracy with mis information?

(254 Posts)
LemonJam Thu 01-Jan-26 13:54:51

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 said “I’ve 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, said: “The GB News interview with President Trump was the most blatant example of a British media organisation collaborating with the Trump administration to undermine British democracy with this misinformation.”
Complaints have also been made about Trump’s claim that London has areas “where the police don’t even want to go” and that “you have sharia law where they don’t even want to obey the laws of … your country”.

There was no challenge from the comments from Turner. When Trump said people are “being stabbed in the ass or worse”, she stated: “It’s true … It’s awful, it is. And it feels much safer [in the US].”

A complaint over a lack of impartiality from the 38 Degrees campaign group pointed to Turner “praising and endorsing Trump multiple times”. During the interview, she described a speech by Trump as “one of the greatest moments at the UN” and that she “loved it, it was brilliant”.

Allira Tue 06-Jan-26 12:10:48

Not positive about anything, the original whinging poms.

Oi! 😲
Not that I like her

nanna8 Tue 06-Jan-26 12:09:01

I like watching Isabel Oakeshot. Deeply fascinating and strange that she actually seems to live in Dubai. Also that ex cop ( don’t know his name) with the London accent. Very, very entertaining. Wonder what their motivation is sometimes. Not positive about anything, the original whinging poms.

LemonJam Tue 06-Jan-26 11:55:42

Agree with Foxie48 at 8.00 and David49 10.04.

"What I dislike is people taking a biased and distorted opinion from the media and presenting it as factual, accurate and unbiased when it's not".

That is the INTENT of some media outlets I would suggest. That often seems to play out on N and P posts. Some post their biased and distorted opinions but are not always open to considering alternative posts where views informed more by facts and evidence are shared. Confirmation bias and defence or pejorative comments rather than facts can then take over.

In my view GB news, which performs the lowest of UK news outlets on bias and factual reporting metrics, plays into this dynamic and often overtly seek to be politically manipulative, often using entertainment to draw viewers in.

The Trump government has decimated federal funding to US public broadcasters such that they are now on the point of collapse. This was Trump's overt goal, intentional and politically manipulative. The growing relationship between GB news and the Trump administration, in my view is also intentional and politically manipulative. Hence the original post.

nanna8 Tue 06-Jan-26 11:47:59

Good for Starmer for not supporting Trump re Greenland. He needs to be very strong on this otherwise there will be another situation like Russia and the Ukraine.

Whitewavemark2 Tue 06-Jan-26 11:06:59

Perhaps, in view of world events and the threat both from the USA and Russia it is time stop denigrating the U.K. and begin to pull together, and show solidarity.

Primrose53 Tue 06-Jan-26 10:28:55

Allira

love0c

Maremia I wonder what the BBC should be called?

The same. What it says on the tin.
B - British
B - Broadcasting - broadcasts news, entertainment and education across various media
C - Corporation, in this case a non-profit making public corporation.

Many give it other names

Biased Broadcasting Corporation
Brussels Broadcasting Corporation

Allira Tue 06-Jan-26 10:25:24

love0c

Maremia I wonder what the BBC should be called?

The same. What it says on the tin.
B - British
B - Broadcasting - broadcasts news, entertainment and education across various media
C - Corporation, in this case a non-profit making public corporation.

foxie48 Tue 06-Jan-26 10:14:36

eazybee

Afaiac (? !!):'as far as I am concerned'.

Papers report news; they also include comment, which of necessity shows some bias on the part of the writer.

It is called freedom of expression and readers are left to draw their own conclusions.

If they are opinion pieces, they are just that, someone's opinion but they are not a news report and as long as people appreciate the difference that is fine. News reporting often includes opinion pieces and good reporting tries to include a balance that reflects a number of different views eg if Badenoch is asked for her opinion on eg the current situation in Venezuela, I expect her to give a conservative perspective but she is not reporting the news, she's commenting on it from her standpoint. The issue that I see is that GB News will frequently have presenters and guests who share a similar viewpoint and some of their viewers might (or might not) think they are watching the news when clearly they are not.

David49 Tue 06-Jan-26 10:04:20

foxie48

There's a difference between news reporting and entertainment. tbh I don't expect to be entertained by a news report but I do expect accurate, factual and unbiased news reporting and for Ofcom to step in and fine media when they fail.

Agree entirely but distortion is not just for entertainment, it’s done for blatant political manipulation, the whole Brexit reporting was just that. A lot of features in the media are biased by some pressure group of another, presented as fact but just opinion.

love0c Tue 06-Jan-26 08:53:41

Maremia I wonder what the BBC should be called?

eazybee Tue 06-Jan-26 08:49:45

Afaiac (? !!):'as far as I am concerned'.

Papers report news; they also include comment, which of necessity shows some bias on the part of the writer.

It is called freedom of expression and readers are left to draw their own conclusions.

Maremia Tue 06-Jan-26 08:43:34

There used to be a law, that your product had to be what it claimed it was.
If GB News is an entertainment programme, and not a fact checking news broadcaster, then it should change its name.
There is no harm in being an entertainment programme.
Call it what it is.

foxie48 Tue 06-Jan-26 08:00:54

Afaiac people can read or watch what they like provided it is legal and paid for. What I dislike is people taking a biased and distorted opinion from the media and presenting it as factual, accurate and unbiased when it's not. That's what this thread was about and if people are unable to discriminate between entertainment and news reporting IMO it's an issue for our democracy.

Oreo Mon 05-Jan-26 19:09:16

Well there are seven pages so surely the DM will have copped it somewhere along the line😜
GB News is a mix of news and entertainment along with any topical items, very much, certainly in the mornings, like all the other Breakfast shows.That’s when I tend to watch it.

LemonJam Mon 05-Jan-26 19:07:26

Ofcom stipulates that “ news reporting” is required to be factual, accurate and none biased. It’s not snooty to have share that standard.

Anyone ofcourse can access their favoured news outlet/s that reflects their own political views even though on independent measurement those news outlets perform lower on fact and bias compared to other news outlets. Bias and fact reporting is less important to some as some have posted.

Each to their own and both types will post their respective views on N and P forum on Gransnet.

foxie48 Mon 05-Jan-26 18:52:39

Oreo

foxie48

Nothing "snooty" about expressing an opinion and a preference, Oreo

There’s much snootiness on here usually about The Daily Mail and those who read it isn’t there, for a start.I think the same people probably go on about GB News.It’s amazing how much they know about the DM and GB News considering how little they rate them.🤔

Has anyone mentioned the DM in this thread? I certainly didn't, I merely mentioned the difference between news reporting and entertainment. fwiw, it's pretty much the same distinction that Ofcom makes, if something is said to be a news report it is required to be factual, accurate and unbiased and every media broadcast is judged by the same standard.

Oreo Mon 05-Jan-26 18:46:05

The Express is also regularly dissed, when in fact it has exposed many things that needed the disinfectant of sunlight.

Doodledog Mon 05-Jan-26 18:42:48

If you know who funds something it tells you a lot. A glance at headlines when passing a newsagent can tell you a lot, too. It is not necessary to read a paper regularly to know its political orientation. Few people have time or inclination to read numerous papers, so we select from what is available. There are few, if any, left wing ones - as mentioned, the Morning Star is communist, so very much a minority interest, and I had to google to see if the Socialist Worker is still in print (it is, but it is mainly online, with a weekly print edition). The Guardian is Liberal, The Mirror is fairly left, the i and the Independent are centrist, and the others are all firmly right wing.

Bias is one thing - the choice of vocabulary in reportage is one example of bias - and the gatekeeping of which stories are reported as big news and which are ignored or given 'dead donkey' status is another. It is all but impossible to write a news story with no bias at all, as we all have views and news can be very traumatic. When papers use populist jibes and soundbite propaganda however, it is a step too far for many, and I don't think that it is hypocritical to feel a deep mistrust of a publication such as the DM without being a regular reader.

Oreo Mon 05-Jan-26 18:22:47

foxie48

Nothing "snooty" about expressing an opinion and a preference, Oreo

There’s much snootiness on here usually about The Daily Mail and those who read it isn’t there, for a start.I think the same people probably go on about GB News.It’s amazing how much they know about the DM and GB News considering how little they rate them.🤔

Oreo Mon 05-Jan-26 18:19:58

Cumbrianmale56

No one has to watch GB News, it's not funded by a licence fee, and in the great scheme of things is quite small compared to the BBC and Sky News. Some people obviously want their news with a more Right wing slant and that's their choice. It's like complaining about the Daily Mail's bias, when you can buy The Morning Star , which is strongly left wing.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 exactly.
I don’t really want a right wing slant or a left wing slant but I enjoy many of the presenters and contents, particularly the breakfast time parts.I like Anne Diamond amongst others.

Cumbrianmale56 Mon 05-Jan-26 18:04:42

No one has to watch GB News, it's not funded by a licence fee, and in the great scheme of things is quite small compared to the BBC and Sky News. Some people obviously want their news with a more Right wing slant and that's their choice. It's like complaining about the Daily Mail's bias, when you can buy The Morning Star , which is strongly left wing.

foxie48 Mon 05-Jan-26 17:31:33

Nothing "snooty" about expressing an opinion and a preference, Oreo

DaisyAnneReturns Mon 05-Jan-26 15:17:47

Oreo

There’s bias wherever you look so it’s no good being snooty about newspapers or tv programmes.
There’s no such thing now as absolute fact reporting it all depends on who’s saying it and possibly always did but more than ever nowadays.
We have to see and read multiple sources to even get near the truth.
That being said we can all use our own common sense about absolute fake accounts and news.

I take the point about bias and the need to read widely, but I don’t think that lets news programmes off the hook. I expect them to tell the truth as best they can, or at least present a fair balance of views.

When most reporting is drawn from mainstream media sources, which often share similar assumptions, it limits how independent that coverage can really be.

Casdon Mon 05-Jan-26 14:41:11

I don’t think there is anything ‘snooty’ about calling out bias. If somebody disagrees with a poster who calls it out with some justification, I’d hope and expect there to be a well informed alternative view put forward, rather than personal accusations flying around.

Oreo Mon 05-Jan-26 14:01:36

There’s bias wherever you look so it’s no good being snooty about newspapers or tv programmes.
There’s no such thing now as absolute fact reporting it all depends on who’s saying it and possibly always did but more than ever nowadays.
We have to see and read multiple sources to even get near the truth.
That being said we can all use our own common sense about absolute fake accounts and news.