Britain Needs GB News
Written May 15th, 2021
In spite of panicked headlines from The Guardian and angry tweet after angry tweet from the ‘Stop Funding Hate Campaign’, it appears that GB News is going ahead, having assembled a team of journalists and begun construction of their new offices. The fear from those on the left is that GB News will be a British version of Fox News or Sky Australia — two generally right-wing media outlets known for pandering to the hard right of their respective countries with anti-immigrant rhetoric delivered by eccentric shock-jocks like Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly. The reality of GB News however, is rather different and it appears that those who want a British Fox News will be just as disappointed as those who fear it.
Firstly it is important to address the origins of the accusations that the channel will simply be a propaganda outlet for the right. One reason is the appointed chairman, Andrew Neil, a veteran journalist from the BBC known for his aggressive and surgical interviewing style (that led to conservative commentator, Ben Shapiro, storming out of an interview and labelling Neil as “on the left”) who has been chairman of Press Holdings (the parent of The Spectator) since 2008. The issue with Mr Neil is that in his autobiography he criticised Margaret Thatcher for not going far enough in her policies, has encouraged debate around the scientific consensus on climate change, advocated for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and allowed the Sunday Times to back a campaign claiming that HIV was not the cause of AIDS during his time as editor from 1983–1994. In short, Andrew Neil is a rather controversial neoconservative, however his own political views do not prevent him from being a skilled journalist; as previously mentioned, Ben Shapiro accused Neil of being “on the left” before storming out of an interview and his 50 year career in journalism is a testament to his ability. Furthermore he is serving as chairman and evening host of a TV channel, for those less familiar with the UK’s broadcasting laws this means that he cannot use GB News to push his own biases or political agenda, TV news must maintain balance and impartiality.
Another reason is that GB News has taken inspiration from Fox News, MSNBC and CNN in that they broadcast anchor-led news rather than the rolling news model employed by Sky, ITV and the BBC. It is the belief of GB News that people are tired of the London metropolitan elite and their stale, quasi-apolitical woke-baiting and that the United Kingdom is in dire need of excitement in broadcasting. Centred around captivating personalities, debates and analysis of the political world, GB News hopes to provide a fresh and fulfilling alternative to the tired format of the BBC, a failing and deeply unpopular organisation that receives its own accusations of bias on an hourly basis. Naturally to fit The Guardian’s panic about a ‘British Fox News’ they ignored the MSNBC and CNN aspects as those are two distinctly left-leaning networks, hoping to ward of advertisers by convincing them that the new channel will be nothing more than a soap-box for a populist, far-right, media cabal.
So I have demonstrated the reasons for opposition, but why have I claimed that Britain needs GB News, not that it can tolerate it. Put simply, people do not trust journalists, especially not the BBC (data from YouGov consistently shows a decline in trust for the BBC) and GB News promises to change that. Rather than hiding their own beliefs (everyone has opinions) as the hosts on Sky News and the BBC do, the personalities on GB News will seek to bring a diverse set of views into the open without pretending to be entirely impartial news-drones. When Andrew Neil played the unbiased journalist on the BBC it came across as disingenuous given his past affiliations and when that same BBC talks to supposedly objective scientists like Susan Michie without mentioning her affiliation with the Communist Party it makes ordinary Britons feel that they are being spoon-fed opinions dressed up as unquestionable facts. The TV news establishment fosters an atmosphere of knowing what to think, not how to think. On GB News, the hosts come from various backgrounds and there is no pressure for them to hide that; afternoon host, Gloria De Piero can say “yes, I was a Labour MP and you’re welcome to disagree” whilst political correspondent Tom Harwood can be open about his support for Brexit whilst levelling equal criticisms towards all political parties and groups. The populist message of GB News is less one with a particular political agenda and more one that tells the masses ‘it’s okay to think freely, journalists are not here to spoon-feed you’.
GB News will naturally appeal to ordinary conservatives with its Brexiteer journalists such as Tom Harwood, Dan Wootton and Andrew Neil. More importantly, however, it will appeal to ordinary people in general, established journalists without a history of giving their opinions such as Simon McCoy and Alastair Stewart are equally prominent on Team GB News along with the aforementioned Gloria De Piero who served as a Labour MP for Ashfield from 2010 to 2019. The alliance of Brexiteers and Remainers, the ‘woke’ and the ‘anti-woke’, conservatives and socialists promises to serve the people of Great Britain with quality journalism they can trust. GB News promises to represent the views of the people, people of all regions, backgrounds and creeds. Fear was struck into the heart of The Guardian upon learning that there would be a TV channel for people other than the London-based latté-sipping, avocado-munching, champagne-guzzling, political elite who have dominated the establishment since New Labour’s 1997 revolution.
GB News, Britain needs you.
