GB News focuses on Muslims in half of its UK news coverage
- A report by the Centre for Media Monitoring revealed that GB News is responsible for over 50% of UK stories about Muslims, often with a negative tone.
- The analysis noted that GB News frequently portrays Muslims in a negative light, contributing substantially to Islamophobic narratives.
- The report concludes that the channel's reporting could incite violence and discrimination against Muslim communities, urging regulatory action.
In the United Kingdom, a report titled 'GB News: A snapshot of anti-Muslim hate' by the Centre for Media Monitoring highlighted significant concerns regarding the portrayal of Muslims in the media. Over a two-year period, GB News mentioned Islam or Muslims more than 17,000 times, comprising over 50% of total mentions regarding Muslims across broadcast media. In stark contrast, mainstream outlets like BBC News and Sky News contributed significantly fewer mentions, with 32% and 21% respectively. The report details that the coverage by GB News often carried a predominantly negative slant, with frequent references to Islamophobia, amounting to 1,180 instances within the same timeframe. This trend was particularly alarming during the summer UK riots, in which GB News was found to share 62% of clips that framed Muslims as the primary perpetrators of violence rather than portraying them as victims. The report's findings pointed out that GB News rarely included Muslim perspectives and frequently failed to challenge Islamophobic remarks, instead depicting Muslims as a 'Trojan horse' that threatens British values. In response to these revelations, Ofcom stated that they found GB News in breach of broadcasting rules 12 times, resulting in a £100,000 fine for failing to enforce due impartiality in their reporting. Critically, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi remarked on the shocking nature of the report, emphasizing the excessive coverage by GB News compared to mainstream media. Despite the critical findings, GB News denied the allegations and labeled the report as 'highly defamatory,' asserting they were not given an opportunity to respond to these claims.