“Welcome to the launch of GB News, the UK news channel that delivers the news that matters to you and gives a voice to those who feel sidelined or even silenced.” With those words, Andrew Neil formulated the goal of his new broadcaster last night, the first in 24 years for the country.
In his opening monologue at 8 p.m., the former BBC celebrity said it’s time to “do the news differently,” right of center, without “metropolitan navel-gazing” or “slavishly following the media agenda,” and certainly without the check-up mentality that, according to him, prevails among “the elite”. The channel is already characterized as the British variant of the American Fox News.
“It really is a new sound,” says correspondent Tim de Wit. “Channels like BBC or Sky remain neutral, GB News is really pushing the edge by choosing a clear profile. Neil is filling that gap in the market.”
Neil promised to highlight ‘extended political correctness’ in the program part Woke Watch and looks for leftist bias in the media. He went on to say that GB News will pay explicit attention to good news stories and will continue to be very proud of Britain: “We will not forget what the B stands for in our name.” The design inspired by the Union Jack underlines that.
This is how Neil kicked off the news channel’s first night:
GB News has a budget of 25 million pounds. “A lot of money is thrown at it to attract viewers with well-known personalities,” says De Wit. “And Neil was not only one of the BBC’s top interviewers, he was also the driving force behind Sky with Rupert Murdoch at the time. Now he wants to shake up the media landscape again.”
On the first evening, Neil mainly introduced his new fellow presenters, often people with a decidedly right-wing signature. Journalists stolen from Sky, ITV or the BBC, but also Sun columnist Dan Wootton and former Brexit Party celebrities such as media personality Michelle Dewberry.
Not everything went smoothly at the premiere last night: sometimes the image was not sharp and a speaker’s microphone went out. Ironic, sneered the left-wing Independent, for a station that wants to make the unheard of the population heard.
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I’m tired of only one more accepted opinion being allowed, and so are our viewers.
After the friendly introductions, some news topics were covered during the first broadcasts. A black presenter called the kneeling of European Championship footballers elitist symbolism, columnist Wootton argued against the likely extension of the lockdown and Dewberry argued against cancel culture.
“There’s only one accepted opinion these days, and if you don’t stick to that, you have to disappear,” she told Neil about her motivations. “I’ve had enough of that and so have our viewers.”
‘No Fox News’
Neil (72) had previously argued in an interview with the Radio Times that the British crave this sound. “If you close your eyes and listen to Sky, BBC or even ITV News, you won’t know which one you have on. Hopefully we’ll get a little more rebellious and bring life to the brewery.”
According to him, the comparison with Fox News is flawed. According to him, that channel has succumbed to fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theorists. “All my life I’ve been a serious journalist targeting the entire political spectrum, why should I throw that away?”
Tim de Wit says about the comparison with Fox: “GB News is really portrayed as a solid journalistic product from renowned makers, but on the first night it was especially very opinionated. For example, Wootton took an explicit stand against the lockdown and Nigel Farage was also performed. as a skeptic, without comparing pros and cons. Then the link with Fox is quickly made, where Tucker Carlson first has his say and guests then confirm that opinion. I wonder if that will be the line.”
Mixed reactions
The reactions on the first evening fall into two camps. The left-wing Guardian described the evening as deadly dull and predicted that the media experiment would last only a year. The Independent wonders how many people will zap past RT and Al Jazeera in the channel list to find GB News.
In a commentary, the newspaper also argued that Neil and his associates are setting up a straw man: things are not as bad as they make out. “There are certainly some opinions that mainstream media doesn’t pay attention to, but that’s because they break laws, are verging on racism or are dangerous to health.”
However, the more right-wing Daily Telegraph thinks GB News could attract an overlooked segment of viewers who will forgive the teething troubles of the first night. “Forget those cosmetic flaws, GB News speaks their language.”
De Wit wonders whether GB News really offers a new sound. “Neil creates a bit of an atmosphere by talking about unheard of opinions, but that is a sound that you can hear a lot here in the tabloids, the largest newspapers in the country. Everyone can also express their opinion via social media these days.”
“I will definitely take a look at what comes along at a quiet moment. I am curious whether the British are sensitive to this way of making TV.”