GB News viewers more likely to wrongly believe net migration to UK rising, study finds | GB News
A large proportion of people who frequent GB News incorrectly believe that net migration to the UK has increased relative to other major channels, according to a study examining public attitudes towards broadcast impartiality.
Cardiff University’s researchThe report, seen by the Guardian, also found there was public opposition to allowing politicians to lead current affairs programmes; This contradicts research conducted by regulator Ofcom.
It was revealed that 51 per cent of the public are against allowing politicians to present current affairs programmes. Only 29% accepted the current rules. Excluding those who are undecided, 64% disagree with this opinion.
Responding to the findings, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the public was “right to be concerned about elected politicians playing the role of news presenter”.
The statement comes amid growing political concern about the number of Reform UK politicians appearing on GB News, including the party’s leader Nigel Farage. Nandy recently talked about the news that “political polemic is now being presented as news.”
Immigration has been the main political theme in British politics for months, despite net migration to Britain almost halving to 431,000 last year.
But the latest research found that 84% of frequent GB News viewers believe new immigration is increasing. This dropped to 71% of ITV frequent viewers, 62% of BBC viewers and 51% of Channel 4 viewers.
The level of public support for preventing politicians from taking a stand on current events appears to contradict Ofcom’s own research. Its own report, published last year and based on focus groups rather than surveys, concluded there was “no consensus” on preventing politicians from hosting TV and radio programmes.
There now appears to be a conflict between Nandy and Ofcom over this issue. Responding to Cardiff University’s findings, Nandy said it was “disturbing that the line between political polemics and objective facts has blurred in some cases in recent years”.
“People rightly expect the highest standards of accuracy and impartiality from broadcast media, and we must ensure they receive that,” he said.
While Ofcom is consulting on minor changes to tighten broadcasting rules after some of its decisions against GB News were overturned in the courts, it has no plans to stop politicians from delivering programs in general.
“Our consultation concerned the issue of politicians providing news content following the Supreme Court decision earlier this year,” a spokesman said. “This did not include assessments of politicians presenting non-news content, including current affairs programmes. We will publish our decision in due course.”
Angelos Frangopoulos, managing director of GB News, stated that the channel “never uses and does not use politicians to present its news programmes”, stating that they only present programs classified as current affairs programmes.
Professor Stephen Pillow, from Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture, who conducted the investigation, said this should prompt Ofcom to re-examine the issue. “We call on Ofcom to restart its consultations on this issue and expand its power to ask whether the public really wants politicians to present non-news programmes,” he said.
Britain’s broadcast neutrality rules appear to have led to increased reliance on TV and radio as sources of news; 49% of people say they trust them. Both are subject to impartiality rules.
Only 7% trust social media; 28% trust both online sources and print newspapers. The BBC has emerged as the most trusted broadcaster for news. Only 18% trusted GB News.
While support for maintaining impartiality in British broadcasting remains strong, this support is weakening among younger viewers. Nearly three quarters (76%) of people aged 50 to 64 think UK broadcasters should be regulated on news and current affairs programming. However, this figure drops to 57% for people aged 18-24.
The survey for the research was conducted by YouGov. It conducted a representative survey of nearly 2,000 people online between October 5 and 6.
