\n<\/p>\n
N<\/span>ot long ago, it would have been hard to believe a group of executives from a relatively small overseas broadcaster would be granted a meeting at the White House, let alone an audience with the president of the United States.<\/p>\n Yet when a delegation from GB News \u2013 led by Nigel Farage \u2013 headed to Washington DC last month to meet Donald Trump\u2019s team, it only confirmed that the Reform UK leader\u2019s Maga connections provided the channel with significant access.<\/p>\n Sir Paul Marshall, the media mogul whose fortune supports the channel, was in the travelling party. Farage and fellow GB News host Bev Turner, were among those to meet the president in the Oval Office. The White House visit sought Trump\u2019s support for GB News\u2019s stateside launch \u2013 its new nightly programme, The Late Show Live.<\/p>\n White House backing was on full display at the show\u2019s launch party that evening. Among the guests was Trump\u2019s combative press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told the event that GB News shared \u201cthe values this administration holds dear: Free speech, that men cannot be women, secure borders \u2013 we don\u2019t want illegal aliens invading our countries\u201d.<\/p>\n She said GB News had already been granted access to the White House press briefing room. Turner and Ben Leo, the two hosts of the US show, have briefing room passes. Leavitt said it was part of an effort to hand newer media access, amid Trump\u2019s disdain for more established outlets seen as \u201cwoke\u201d.<\/p>\n Also present at the launch party was the US secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, who urged GB News to \u201ccontrol that narrative\u201d in the UK. Farage told guests its coverage would \u201cchange perceptions of who Donald Trump is\u201d in the UK and Europe.<\/p>\n Alan McCormick, the GB News chairman, went further. \u201cBritain has been infected by a mind virus that sees no value in place, in family, in community, in love of country and these views have [been] reinforced by an establishment media who have suppressed any alternative viewpoints,\u201d he said. \u201cGB News was launched to end this neglect.\u201d<\/p>\n For Trump, the embrace of GB News is not just a favour for an old ally in Farage, but another chance to elevate friendly outlets outside the US. For GB News, a close relationship with Trump\u2019s network could help it make a splash.<\/p>\n However, some believe its US arrival also creates another avenue through which talking points from the Trumpian, US right will reach a British audience. The recent \u201cunite the kingdom\u201d protest, organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, featured some in the crowd wearing Make England Great Again hats, or T-shirts referencing Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n \u201cGB News isn\u2019t going to affect the culture of American politics, but does it affect their legitimacy and status in shifting the culture of British politics and society? I think it could,\u201d said Sunder Katwala, director of British Future thinktank.<\/p>\n \u201cThe status of GB News is no doubt boosted by this level of access. From the American perspective, they really want a sort of Trumpism International. They want to help GB news break things up.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has already reposted a GB News clip on Truth Social, his social media platform, while the channel has launched on Truth+, its associated streaming service.<\/p>\n Some senior Maga figures have already appeared on the new show. The first episode featured Kari Lake, a fierce Trump ally. Invited to criticise Keir Starmer\u2019s immigration policies, she said: \u201cEngland will cease to be England \u2026 many people have said it is already gone.\u201d She said if she had a vote, she would vote for Farage.<\/p>\n Asked whether the BBC was \u201cfailing the people of Britain\u201d, she replied: \u201cThe BBC should not be putting out lies,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to cover anything that makes [Trump] look good.\u201d<\/p>\n Other conversations have flirted with more radical opinions. In an exchange with Seb Gorka, Trump\u2019s controversial senior director for counter-terrorism, Turner said of delegates at the UN general assembly: \u201cThere will be a lot of people in that room today who are very keen on the idea of a sort of global governance, without the individual nation states.\u201d<\/p>\n GB News\u2019s US launch comes with the broadcaster now challenging other UK news channels, though all have small audiences.<\/p>\n Its average daily viewership \u2013 the average number of people watching it at any given point \u2013 was 77,200 in the first half of September, according to figures from the Digital-i agency. That put it just ahead of the BBC News channel\u2019s 76,700 and Sky News\u2019s 66,500 average daily viewership.<\/p>\n However, GB News reaches a narrower audience. The number of different households that tune in at any point of the day is about a million. The BBC News channel and Sky News both reach a wider audience \u2013 1.8m and 1.6m respectively.<\/p>\n It points to GB News having a small but dedicated following. It is still not financially self-sufficient, losing \u00a333.4m last year, though its revenues have more than doubled.<\/p>\n The BBC\u2019s main television bulletins still dominate overall \u2013 the Six O\u2019Clock News pulls in 3.3 million viewers. In the same time slot, GB News averages 109,000 viewers.<\/p>\n Its US expansion has once again raised the question of whether, in allowing GB News to operate with Reform UK presenters and other hosts pushing rightwing opinions, regulator Ofcom has allowed a shift in British broadcasting without any legal change to impartiality rules.<\/p>\n Chris Banatvala, who was Ofcom\u2019s founding director of standards responsible for drafting and enforcing its first broadcasting code, said GB News\u2019s presence had \u201cchanged the media landscape\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a chipping away at the importance and regulation of impartiality,\u201d said Banatvala, who is also an independent member of the Sky News board. \u201cOfcom appears to be unwilling to intervene and unwilling to regulate this channel in the same way as it regulates other television news channels.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Ofcom had become too focused on \u201csmall, technical breaches\u201d, rather than whether coverage represented impartial treatment of controversial topics.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the code or the regulator, or anybody, envisaged the leader of the political party with the highest poll rating having his own personal show on a news channel,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you look at it like that, it\u2019s extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n The channel\u2019s US drive has also coincided with signs of renewed political interest in its approach. The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said recently she was concerned about \u201cpolemic presented as fact and opinion presented as news\u201d though did not name GB News specifically.<\/p>\n It remains unclear if Nandy plans any serious reforms to broadcasting rules. Both Ofcom and GB News deny it is regulated differently to other broadcasters. An Ofcom spokesperson said its rules \u201capply equally to all broadcasters. We enforce these rules fairly and proportionately, acting independently and impartially at all times.<\/p>\n \u201cOur due impartiality rules are robust, while also taking account of the rights of broadcasters and audiences to freedom of expression,\u201d they said. \u201cThis means broadcasters have editorial freedom to decide who presents their programmes and to include controversial opinions and debate on topical issues, providing they comply with the broadcasting code.<\/p>\n \u201cA broadcaster\u2019s approach can vary according to the nature of the subject, the type of programme and channel, and the likely expectation of the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n After Nandy\u2019s recent intervention, Angelos Frangopoulos, the GB News chief executive, said she was \u201ceither mistaken or misinformed about the nature of GB News programming\u201d. He said it was \u201centirely wrong\u201d to suggest it observes different standards to other broadcasters.<\/p>\n A GB News spokesperson pointed to its editorial charter, which states it \u201crefuses to bow to convention or be swayed by those who shout loudest. We are here for everyone, not the establishment\u201d. It states its journalists \u201creject propaganda and refuse to be swayed by partisan agendas\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not long ago, it would have been hard to believe a group of executives from a relatively small overseas broadcaster would be granted a meeting at the White House, let alone an audience with the president of the United States. Yet when a delegation from GB News \u2013 led by Nigel Farage \u2013 headed to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1520,2593,3132,1525,15895,3131,3394,15896,2361],"class_list":{"0":"post-26470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-audience","9":"tag-expansion","10":"tag-farage","11":"tag-feared","12":"tag-newss","13":"tag-nigel","14":"tag-reach","15":"tag-trumpian","16":"tag-views"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}