GB News is also facing another tranche of Ofcom investigations. Or, as Jim Waterson at the Guardian has put it, “GB News is being investigated for four further potential breaches of impartiality rules, as the media regulator Ofcom struggles with the rightwing channel’s willingness to push the boundaries of British broadcasting rules”. Or not to bother with those rules at all.
The potential culprits included Tories Esther McVey, Philip Davies, and Jacob Rees Mogg, with a new addition to the cast being “a programme presented by the former Loaded editor Martin Daubney on 16 June, which included a discussion about small boats crossing the Channel and featured an interview with Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK”. GB News is in the mire.
And increasingly so. Which once more begs the question as to why they don’t just cut Wootton loose. None of the Byline Times stories reflects well on a brand that is already home to poor editorial and production standards, broadcasting very little news, not offering a balance of opinions, employing presenters who flat-out lie and push conspiracy theories, and so on.
The latest exposé on Desperate Dan tells that he “used the pretext of ‘underwear modelling’ to target young reality TV personalities … Among those Wootton targeted over an eight-year period between 2011 and 2019 - during which he was working for The Sun, ITV and the Daily Mail - were The Only Way is Essex star Kirk Norcoss, Big Brother contestant JJ Bird, and an X Factor singer who was just out of his teens”. There was more.
Sadly, his target was unimpressed. “Mr Bird, who refused Wootton’s offers”. Maybe it was because the shoot would be at “mine in E1”, or that the line was drawn at “they also want to know if you will do a couple of … nude shots too because they do a lot of that”. He plied one target who visited the flat with more and more skimpy underwear. Yet GB News are standing by him.
Despite Paul Wragg from the University of Leeds responding “Here, we have serious safeguarding concerns that demand an explanation from ITV, the Daily Mail and The Sun, as to how one of its employees was able to use the status and charisma of his role to seduce others to bend to his will, to satisfy his own predilections, without consequence”. Indeed.
On top of all that, the Guardian is following its own leads, seemingly unwilling to join the circling the wagons exercise being undertaken by the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press. “Someone who called themselves Martin Branning has been accused of allegedly offering Wootton’s former Sun colleagues thousands of pounds in return for explicit material” they tell.
There was more. “Now a new witness has come forward to claim ‘Martin Branning’ and Dan Wootton were one and the same man … Andy Lee, a performer on the subscriber website OnlyFans, told the Guardian he met ‘Branning’ in person back in 2013 - and later realised he had actually met Wootton”. That the alias was used “to arrange a sexual encounter”.
GB News carries on as if nothing were amiss. They have chosen … poorly.
https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton
5 comments:
A seedy, far right, corrupt propaganda outlet in a seedy, far right, corrupt country run from the most corrupt city in the world.
Wooton fits perfectly.
No change there then.
Epstein comes to mind. He compromised a lot of people for a long period of time by claiming he had film.
Tim, the tories are committing to something called "national conservatism".
To be known henceforth as NatC.
More as it comes in.
I'm of the belief that matter how distasteful you find someone allegations must be proved, not disproved bearing in mind the Huh Edwards debacle. After all Kevin Spacey was crucified long before being found innocent in a court of law.
As distasteful as Wooton clearly is, these allegations must be proved. However, you prove them by looking into them fully. Remember how certain allegations were made against Coronation St actors Bill Roach and Michael Le Vell. They were investigated, and these two men were found innocent. However, during these investigations, they were suspended by ITV. Why is Heebie Geebies not doing likewise with Dan Wooton?
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