Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Ofcom has imposed a £100,000 fine against lossmaking British broadcaster GB News for breaching the UK broadcasting code with a show featuring former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
An investigation by the UK media watchdog found that a live, hour-long programme in February where viewers quizzed Sunak failed to meet the impartiality requirements for a current affairs show, Ofcom said on Thursday.
GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos said the decision was a “direct attack on free speech and journalism in the UK”, adding that the “sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful”.
The fine marks the first time that Ofcom has gone further than warning the broadcaster over repeated breaches of the broadcasting rules, which has led some commentators to criticise the regulator for weakness in its response to the Sir Paul Marshall-backed media platform.
The regulator has previously fined Russian broadcaster RT £200,000 for impartiality breaches, before revoking its licence in 2023 over coverage of the invasion of Ukraine, while the Chinese state broadcaster’s international division, China Global Television Network, was fined £125,000.
Ofcom has opened 19 investigations against GB News, and found the group to be in breach 12 times. The regulator said the “seriousness and repeated nature” warranted a financial penalty of £100,000.
In its investigation of the show, Ofcom said that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints had not been presented and given due weight in the “People’s Forum: The Prime Minister”.
Ofcom decided that Sunak “had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his government in a period preceding a UK general election”.
GB News this month failed in its legal attempt to stop the sanctions process but was allowed to proceed with a judicial review to challenge the decision by Ofcom. The fine will not be imposed until after the proceedings have concluded.
Frangopoulos said: “At the ‘People’s Channel’ we will continue to fearlessly champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the UK. As we have all seen, this is needed more than ever.”
GB News, which is co-owned by hedge fund boss Marshall and Dubai-based Legatum Ventures, is funded through loans from shareholders that can be drawn as necessary.
The channel’s owners had injected a further £41mn in funding to cover operating costs at the lossmaking broadcaster last year, with its 2022-23 accounts showing that the media group had fallen to a pre-tax loss of £42.4mn, up from £30.8mn the year before.
GB News has been cutting costs over the past year in its operations.
