GB News Editorial Director Michael Booker has claimed that people who don't watch the channel are trying to "kill it." Speaking on the Daily Expresso podcast, Booker told host JJ Anisiobi that much of the criticism comes from those who have never tuned in.
He said: "Everyone was out to kill the channel. I mean, there's still plenty of people who would like to kill the channel now, and it's usually people who've never watched, never listened to it at all."
Launch and early opposition
GB News launched in June 2021, vowing to take on the BBC and Sky News with a different kind of news coverage, featuring more opinion, debate, and outspoken presenters.
Booker described the early opposition: "You could see there was this frenzy about it. It hadn't really been on air very long, but people were trying to kill it off and find any reason to do it."
Controversies and Ofcom rulings
The channel faced criticism shortly after launch when presenter Guto Harri left after taking a knee following a discussion about racist abuse of England players. Booker said: "I wasn't behind any of the decision-making at the time. People have come and gone from the channel, but I still speak to Guto to this day. He's got no hard feelings and wants the channel to keep going and be successful."
GB News has been investigated by Ofcom multiple times and has been found to have broken broadcasting rules on several occasions. The use of politicians as presenters, including Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey, Lee Anderson, and Michael Portillo, has also drawn criticism.
Most-complained-about segment
In 2023, Laurence Fox made offensive comments about journalist Ava Evans on Dan Wootton Tonight, triggering thousands of complaints and suspensions for both men. Earlier this year, a segment featuring Catholic journalist Caroline Farrow, who appeared to link the LGBTQ+ community to paedophilia, became the most complained-about programme ever, earning over 9,000 complaints to Ofcom.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Bimini and Green Party leader Zack Polanski wrote an open letter to the regulator, stating: "How is it that GB News and others are allowed to say that pride is about celebrating minor attraction and bestiality when it's not true. LGBTQIA+ people find these things just as abhorrent as anyone else does. Do your job and hold these channels to account. It's so dangerous to allow lies like this to appear as fact when people don't think critically."
Despite pushback from host Alex Armstrong at the time, Ofcom concluded GB News breached the broadcasting code. Armstrong later said on air: "Comments made by guests last weekend conflated gay pride with the celebration of paedophilia. This is an age-old gay trope that's been used over a number of years to demonise and slander gay people. And as I said to the guest during that segment, it is a statement I fundamentally reject and have not witnessed when attending Pride myself. The debate we were meant to be having was around whether or not Pride was suitable for children. Those comments by guests had no place in that discussion, and in my opinion, were lazy and offensive arguments that don't reflect my views or the views of this channel, where many LGBT people also work."
