Ofcom not meeting its statutory duty with regard to GB News says Steven Barnett

Steven Barnett recently joined a VLV Spring conference panel which debated whether impartiality regulation was still fit for purpose. There has been some recent debate about whether impartiality regulation should allow sitting MPs to present programmes on news channels. This panel looked at impartiality regulation and whether it needs to be updated. Alongside Barnett were Adam Baxter, Director of Broadcasting Standards, Ofcom, Sue Inglish, former Head of Political Programmes at the BBC and current Chair of The Disasters Emergency Committee, and the panel was chaired by broadcaster Roger Bolton, founder of Beebwatch.

In the discussion Barnett argued that Ofcom was not doing its statutory duty  with regard to GB News and its serial breaches of impartiality rules.

At the same event, Barnett chaired a session on the Media Bill with Tim Suter, former Ofcom Board member and former Head of Broadcasting Policy at DCMS; Anna McNamee, Executive Director of the Sandford St Martin Trust; Lord Tom McNally, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, House of Lords; and Sophie Chalk, Policy Advisor at VLV. This panel can be viewed below

Image and video; VLV with kind permission