Three Tory MPs have been found to have broken Ofcom’s broadcasting rules on due impartiality during programmes on GB News.
The watchdog’s probe involved five episodes of shows presented separately by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, minister without portfolio Esther McVey, and backbencher Philip Davies.
A further episode of Sir Jacob’s State Of The Nation was not investigated because it did not raise issues under the rules, according to Ofcom.
We've found five GB News programmes featuring politicians acting as news presenters in breach of due impartiality rules.
🔗 Read our full statement here: https://t.co/PJsAXd8TNg pic.twitter.com/rcZgVlsx8k— Ofcom (@Ofcom) March 18, 2024
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Ofcom said: “We found that two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State Of The Nation, two episodes of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil, and one episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast during May and June 2023, failed to comply with Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code.”
The media watchdog said that because the politicians “acted as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in sequences which clearly constituted news – including reporting breaking news events – without exceptional justification, news was, therefore, not presented with due impartiality”.
It went on: “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.”
