Five episodes of GB News programmes presented by Tory MPs found to have broken Ofcom rules | UK News

Five episodes of GB News programmes that were presented by Tory MPs have been found by Ofcom to have breached broadcasting rules.

The watchdog’s probe involved two shows presented by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, and three jointly hosted by former pensions secretary Esther McVey and her husband – backbencher Philip Davies.

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.”

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