Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Media myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Complaints made about British commercial TV programmes almost doubled in 2023 as the UK’s media watchdog was called on to vet channels using politicians as presenters and to examine coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Ofcom said on Wednesday that it received 69,236 viewer complaints in relation to 9,638 cases this year — nearly twice as many as in 2022. A total of 35 programmes were found in breach of broadcasting rules.
The Ofcom data on complaints does not include programmes aired by the BBC, the national broadcaster. Under the BBC’s charter, these must be handled internally in the first instance.
A show presented by Dan Wootton and aired by GB News, in which actor Laurence Fox made sexist comments about journalist Ava Evans, drew the most complaints.
Fox, also the leader of the Reclaim party, was axed from the channel after making the remarks, which were heavily criticised. The watchdog is still investigating whether the programme breached standards.
Overall, GB News broke Britain’s media rules more times than any other broadcaster in 2023. Ofcom found that the channel, which is part-owned by hedge fund boss Paul Marshall, twice breached rules that protect audiences from harm and failed to show due impartiality on three occasions.
The channel has tested rules over impartiality by hiring right-leaning politicians — including Nigel Farage, former Brexit party leader, and Conservative MPs Esther McVey and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg — to present news and current affairs programmes.
Ofcom is conducting research to be published in 2024 that will gauge current audience attitudes towards using politicians as presenters.
The regulator imposed sanctions on four channels for content breaches, including a £40,000 fine on the Islam Channel and a £10,000 fine on Ahlebait TV, both for broadcasting antisemitic content.
Almost one in 10 complaints it received related to the Israel-Hamas war, with broadcasters facing challenges in providing real-time coverage of the complex political fallout of the conflict.
The BBC has also, been singled out for its coverage; government ministers, including culture secretary Lucy Frazer, have complained about the corporation’s use of language when describing Hamas, for example.
Other programmes that drew a high number of complaints included coverage by ITV of the coronation of King Charles in May, when actress Adjoa Andoh commented on the appearance of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Ofcom did not uphold these complaints, however.
The watchdog said next year’s general election meant “ensuring that due impartiality is preserved and news is reported with due accuracy will be high on our priority list”.
Read the full article here