Rishi Sunak’s GB News interview under investigation for breaching impartiality rules

nme.com:

The People’s Forum on the channel on February 12, answering questions from a live audience, with many complaining that no alternative point of view was offered during the broadcast.In a statement, Ofcom said: “We have received around 500 complaints about the programme which aired on GB News.“We are investigating under Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code which provide additional due impartiality requirements for programmes dealing with matters of major political controversy and major matters relating to current public policy.“Specifically, Rules 5.11 and 5.12 require that an appropriately wide range of significant views must be included and given due weight in such programmes, or in clearly linked and timely programmes.”The presenter Stephen Dixon said during the show that the questions were being posed by undecided voters, and that they had not been seen in advance, either by GB News or by Sunak.An official spokesperson for Sunak said that the prime minister has no regrets about his appearance on the show and that “this is a matter for Ofcom”.Ofcom, which sets the rules by which broadcasters must abide, does not insist that equal time is given to opposing political views, but does say that audiences must be exposed to alternative ways of thinking.GB News has been found to have fallen foul of Ofcom rules in the past, including when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was interviewed by fellow Conservative MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies about his Autumn Statement.The channel’s policy of allowing active political figures to host shows, including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson, is also contentious.