FactualLaunched on June 13, this ultraconservative news channel is the antithesis of a BBC considered too London and politically correct. GB News relies on controversial debates, provocative remarks and tough interviews to gain audiences and attract advertisers.
LETTER FROM LONDON
Sunday, June 20, 3:30 p.m. in London. Time to take a look at GB News, the self-proclaimed new TV channel “Anti-woke “,” Anti-politically correct “, which has been broadcasting in the UK since June 13. This is the first major launch since Sky News was launched in 1989 in an industry still dominated by the well-respected public service channel BBC. An event, therefore, in the post-Brexit British politico-media landscape, not quite post-pandemic.
On the air, Andrew Doyle, journalist and stand-up comedian, hosts a set called “Free Speech Nation”. The young man interrogates with a machine gun Debbie Hayton, a trans person, who says he had “Three children as a male, but not a man”, and considers that the Stonewall association, defender of LGBTQ + rights, blacklisted by the government of Boris Johnson for positions deemed outraged, ” born [la] not represent ”.
They discuss the feminists who refuse trans in women’s toilets, the issue of trans in women’s sports competitions. We have a little trouble keeping up with the channel’s internet connection is so bad. The GB News studio remains, despite everything, recognizable, with its library at the back, the tawny sofa on which all the hosts sit (many former BBC or Sky News) and these neon lights in the colors of the Union Jack, which vaguely light up the scene. Because, as Andrew Neil, the president and star presenter of the channel, said, “We are proud to be British, our name [GB comme Great Britain] speaks for itself. ”
Scratching hair subjects
The newcomer has a budget of 60 million pounds sterling (70 million euros), contributed by the American media company Discovery, the investment fund of Dubai Legatum Capital and Paul Marshall, one of the backers of the Brexit campaign. GB News mainly offers discussion boards and wants “Give a voice to all those who feel excluded or silenced”, Andrew Neil explained at the launch party.
“We won’t be like Fox News, which has pushed a conspiratorial disinformation agenda. I have worked too long and too hard to build a journalistic reputation, not to destroy it like this! Andrew Neil, President of GB News
You have 69.9% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
