British media regulator Ofcom has launched another investigation into right-of-center news outlet GB News after the channel hosted a chat show with the country’s prime minister earlier this month.
The probe is connected to a February 14 broadcast of “The People’s Forum,” which saw British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discuss a number of political issues with members of a studio audience.
Ofcom has strict rules that require balance of perspective when news programs air matters related to politics or social issues. In this case, Ofcom says the forum received around 500 complaints from the public, triggering the probe.
“We are investigating under Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code which provide additional due impartiality requirements for programs dealing with matters of major political controversy and major matters relating to current public policy,” a spokesperson for Ofcom said in a statement on Monday. “Specifically, Rules 5.11 and 5.12 require that an appropriately wide range of significant views must be included and given due weight in such programs, or in clearly linked and timely programs.”
The probe is the latest involving GB News, which has drawn scrutiny from British media regulators over the past year for broadcasts that purported to advocate for certain positions or which saw certain politicians serve in apparent news roles, both of which are forbidden under the country’s strict broadcast rules.
Last December, Ofcom found GB News to be in violation of its impartiality rules after urging viewers to sign an online petition aimed at preserving cash as an acceptable currency in Britain. Three months earlier, the same conclusion was reached over an interview with former British Member of Parliament Jeremy Hunt that was conducted by two sitting politicians who host a weekend breakfast program on the channel.
The decades-old impartiality rules were intended to ensure British viewers had reliable access to news and information on television, including the publicly-owned British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Last year, Ofcom said it could re-examine those rules to see if they were still necessary in an era where British citizens had access to a number of news sources online and elsewhere. In January, Ofcom said it would delay the publication of a report after it examined those rules internally.
