GB News Breaches Impartiality Rules with "Don't Kill Cash" Campaign
In a recent development, Ofcom has determined that GB News breached impartiality rules during an episode of The Live Desk that aired on July 7, 2023.
The episode featured the promotion of GB News' campaign, "Don't Kill Cash," which advocated for legislation to protect the status of cash as legal tender until at least 2050.
Ofcom found that the broadcast violated rules 5.4 and 5.5 of the Broadcasting Code by failing to maintain impartiality on the matter, as the topic was deemed a "matter of political controversy and a matter relating to current public policy" at the time.
GB News expressed its disappointment in Ofcom's ruling, stating, "We are disappointed by Ofcom’s ruling that our campaign to protect cash for society’s most financially vulnerable people was a breach of the Broadcasting Code. We disagree with Ofcom's assertion that because the campaign was under the GB News banner, it represented the personal or self-interested view of anyone within the company. Nothing could be further from the truth. We maintain our campaign was not political and so did not consider it invoked due impartiality rules requiring substantially different views. The campaign received widespread support across the political spectrum."
The campaign garnered widespread support across the political spectrum, with over 310,000 signatures on its petition.
In response, Ofcom urged GB News to consider this decision in future programming compliance. The regulator also disclosed ongoing investigations into five other GB News programs related to the "Don't Kill Cash" campaign, with outcomes to be published later.
The regulator highlighted the importance of broadcasters refraining from expressing views on matters of political controversy or current public policy, as outlined in its guidelines.
