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Saturday 3 July 2021

GB News Goes Full Far Right

As its ratings continue their downward trend, so new broadcast entrant GB News has pressed the far-right panic button and embraced the kinds of interviewees that not even Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) will go anywhere near. And with the certainty of night following day, those urging advertisers to pull their placements from the station are right behind. Andrew Neil’s no-hate claim looks more ragged by the day.


First, it was merely the kinds of liars and shameless propagandists that pop up all over right wing media: after the self-promoting Julia Hartley Dooda had given a platform to agent provocateur Andy Ngo on her TalkRADIO show - and conspicuously failed to interrogate her source - the deeply unsavoury Dan Wootton did likewise on GB News.

Colin Brazier

This was after Ngo had been praised by Wootton’s fellow host Neil Oliver, a Tweet that was Retweeted by another GB News presenter, Colin Brazier. And it was Brazier who went one worse than Wootton, as he gave his remaining viewers the dubious benefit of an interview with Rebel Media co-founder Ezra Levant. You heard that right.

Ezra Levant

Ezra Levant, of whom Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes said “I was never recognised before The Rebel”. The Proud Boys is a neo-fascist organisation that has been designated a terrorist group in McInnes’ native Canada. McInnes contributes to Taki’s Mag, published by Taki Theodoracopulos, whose columns in the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine have included praise for Golden Dawn in Greece, and Hitler’s Wehrmacht.


Ezra Levant, who worked with pro-am motormouth Katie Hopkins (since banned by Twitter, to the great relief of all those who wished it had happened rather earlier). Ezra Levant, who worked rather more extensively with Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson (Lennon, McInnes and man-baby Milo Yiannopoulos had planned a speaking tour of Australia, only to fail the country’s “character test” and be denied visas).


So did Colin Brazier go where Ms Hartley Dooda had failed with Andy Ngo, and interrogate his source? Sadly, he did not, merely introducing Levant as a “political activist and broadcaster”. Peter Walker of the Guardian did not agree. “This is a really big mis-step by [GB News]. Ezra Levant isn’t a ‘political activist and broadcaster’, he’s a far right activist and very close ally of Tommy Robinson. Astonishing he’s allowed anywhere near the TV”.


Peter Jukes of Byline Media was equally unimpressed. “Shame on you [Colin Brazier] - you’re amplifying far right Ezra Levant who worked with Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka ‘Tommy Robinson’), Katie Hopkins and others to spread hateful, inciting and dangerous Islamophobia. What a falling off from broadcast standards”. Indeed.


So it was no surprise to see campaign group Stop Funding Hate quoting Walker as they listed some of this week’s GB News’ advertisers. Elsewhere, it was just plain old misinformation, with ex-ITV has-been Alastair Stewart telling GB News viewers “The coronavirus, which was never a threat to children's wellbeing, has made them victims”.


As Greg Travis has pointed out, “For children, COVID is four hundred+ times more deadly than influenza”. Misinformation, lies - and desperately embracing the far right for clicks.

GB News has not yet reached the end of the road. But you can see it from there.


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...a falling off from broadcast standards"?

WHAT "broadcast standards"?

The gospel according to far right tory propagandist Kuentssberg?

The far right thieving tory dogma of "greed is good" Peston?

The promotion of Cold War2 by " 'intelligence' agency assets" Hilsum/Rugman/Miller?


The wilful ignorance of "three monkeys" Boulton?

The empty head of "a bit dim" Burley?

The mealy mouth of far right tory "dodgy" Marr?

So....more of the same, then.

J said...

Can't say I'm shocked... Gammon Bastard News, the news of the National Front, was always going to go full neo-fash for clicks. Just shocked that it came so soon after having worse ratings than the welsh Paw Patrol... oh wait!

Those kind of networks always go full fash sooner or later... oh how we laughed at how quickly every single attempt to go for a UK version of whinging reich-winger on twitter ended badly.

There is only so much "I'm being silenced"; "I hate the woke"; "racism isn't a problem say 5 white people"; "Gays should not exist, and especially not trans people"; and really bad reich-wing "comedians" blather on about nothing that anyone can remember; can do before they repeat... and as we now know, its about a week before they get boring so have to go full nazi when its commercial TV.

Hopefully it closes down soon... and that guy in the new bad wig is hopefully never heard from again.

Mr Larrington said...

Alastair twatting Stewart should be aware that viruses don’t actually care how old their host is and will happily take up residence with anyone in close proximity, like friends, teachers, support staff, parents et bleedin' cetera. Just like they don’t care whether it’s Christmas.

Idiot.

David said...

As Greg Travis has pointed out, “For children, COVID is four hundred+ times more deadly than influenza”.
Do you have any figures to back up this assertion by this CyberSecurity Guy and Airborne Animal Rescuer?