FIVE episodes of GB News shows presented by Tory MPs have been found by Ofcom to have breached broadcasting rules.
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, broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom said.
Minister without porfolio Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies presented the Esther and Phil shows.
Ofcom announced investigations had been opened into particular episodes of the shows last year.
Rules under the Broadcasting Code say that news must be presented with due impartiality and Ofcom found this had not been the case in these episodes.
According to the rules, a politician cannot be a newsreader, interviewer or reporter unless there is editorial justification.
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Following its investigation on the five programmes, 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.
“We found that host 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.”
A separate episode of Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation was looked at but did not raise issues to warrant an investigation, Ofcom said.
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