GB News - Does anyone take it seriously?

[Laura-1]

I was prepared to give GB News a chance, all the chatter about it in the run up to its launch sounded decent.

Then on the opening day was a repeated segment of the the boss, Andrew Neil and he just kept going on and on and on about how they were being different and it basically sounded like someone who was bitter or a jilted ex.

Since then... I've seen...

Code: Select all

[*] Studios that looks like old sheds or train station waiting rooms.
[*] A scruffy looking bloke sat in his bedroom smoking and drinking drinking alcohol.
[*] A so called sports pundit who couldn't even say the word Schmeichel.
[*] A presenter saying people who judge are snobby while judging at the same time. 
[*] Very poor quality that still hasn't improved.
[*] 4 Slobby scruffy looking people sat on a sofa giving their takes on dating sites and the like.
[*] A posh blonde Northern bird who actually seems to have an ounce of class about her. 
[*] Nigel Farrage ranting about Joe Biden.

While I don't like Joe Biden you can't really compare him with Donald 'tell-a-lie-a-day' Trump, Yes Biden seems to lack compassion for the people they were trying to get out of Afghanistan but Trump told thousands of people Covid was a harmless flu despite knowing people would die from it.

My conclusion... it's a split channel,

You've got one or two presenters that are decent but the rest - strike me as attention seekers who claim to hold shocking views just to get attention, some of the reporters out on the ground are dressed like they've changed into some scrubs to paint their bathroom and the guests on most of the shows seem to be bitter with a chip on their shoulder or people you can't take serious which is why GB news is the only channel they can get their faces on.

I didn't think you could get a news channel worse than Fox News with their bias and agendas but at the least the presenters at Fox actually dress smart and look respectable.

[cwathen]

What I think changed at some point in the first half of the 2010's is a large shift away from centrist political views and indeed compromise meet-in-the-middle approaches to many subjects in general. Instead increasingly issues come down to two all-or-nothing viewpoints with those sufficiently motivated to have a view having very strongly held views one way or the other.

Brexit is the obvious example but I think it was just the first big highlight of a shift away from centrism and compromise that had already happened.

Print media has long aligned itself left-right politically, but I don't think historically broadcast media has. What is intriguing is how much BBC News is held in disdain by people of both right and left political leanings, both arguing with equal conviction that it is biased to the other side. I think the reality is that it is still trying to be all things to all people but that kind of consensus building is often rejected as people increasingly seek to immerse themselves in echo chambers arguing in favour of views they already have.

In that environment it's hardly surprising that a gap for stations like GB News to be commercially viable was seen to exist whereas I think 10 years ago it never would have.

But take it seriously? No, not with the shoddy production values or many of the presenters for reasons you've mentioned.

[all new Phil]

What I think changed at some point in the first half of the 2010's is a large shift away from centrist political views and indeed compromise meet-in-the-middle approaches to many subjects in general. Instead increasingly issues come down to two all-or-nothing viewpoints with those sufficiently motivated to have a view having very strongly held views one way or the other.

Brexit is the obvious example but I think it was just the first big highlight of a shift away from centrism and compromise that had already happened.

I think you have the timeframe right, I’d maybe point to the Conservatives being in a coalition with the Lib Dems being the first part of this though, whereby we had a Conservative PM who was (at least perceived to have been) pulled towards the centre. This was where you saw UKIP gain momentum and also arguably the beginning of Labour veering towards the left as dissatisfaction with Miliband grew when he failed to cut through.

[Alan de Robson]

What I think changed at some point in the first half of the 2010's is a large shift away from centrist political views and indeed compromise meet-in-the-middle approaches to many subjects in general. Instead increasingly issues come down to two all-or-nothing viewpoints with those sufficiently motivated to have a view having very strongly held views one way or the other.

Brexit is the obvious example but I think it was just the first big highlight of a shift away from centrism and compromise that had already happened.

Exactly my view too cwathen and it was the Brexit referendum which started it.

I'm not a Scot but, from what I read (please someone tell me if I'm wrong), the 2014 independence referendum has had a similar effect on their population.

It's such a shame.

I personally thought, the odd policy aside like tuition fees, that the Tory/LibDem government from 2010-2015 was the best government I have ever lived under because more than one party's opinion had to be considered in policy-making and both sides made compromises.

I miss Britain the way it used to be - for me, the 90s were the best decade (I'm 47). It's an amazing place with brilliant people and culture - very tolerant and accepting in the large part. But it's not so amazing anymore and it feels like everything is such a f**king mess right now.

[Dr Lobster*]

I find the shouty people on both sides of the political spectrum very very boring indeed. Politically, I consider myself left of centre, not too much on the left that I'm into nutter territory - Tony Blair's New Labour I felt was about as good compromise as we were going to get in this country - it had its faults, but it is better than what we have now - in the beginning anyway - we started to veer towards the authoritarianism with indefinite detentions, ID cards, huge DNA databases, untapped surveillance and massive regulation overload when they got bored and failed to fix the NHS, schools, prisons, the economy (you know, all the important stuff).

In answer to the question, I think GB News is a real disappointment, I have no problem with another voice, whether I agree with it or not, but none of the presenters really have any gravitas, the production values from what I've seen make it look like something that's out of eastern europe or Latin America in the 1980s (albeit in HD), can't say I've watched any more than about 10 minutes of it.

[Martin Phillp]

Not the most constructive comment I've made, but it's simply crap. Fox News have the knack of making that type of polarised content watchable, even if you disagree with some of the more crank pot comments some of their contributors put out there.

Those who thought that GBN would become a mainstream mouthpiece for a section of the right have been mistaken, it's a Nigel Farage mouthpiece with a lot of poorly produced output wrapped around it.

[cwathen]

...and 3 months after launch, Andrew Neil's gone. I give it till the end of the year

[MetalGearRex]

I have rarely tuned into GB News since it launched but every time I see it on air it is shoddily produced. Not to mention, the various scandals by which it has gotten itself into.

Andrew Neil bolting from the channel and News UK observing GBN's failures (and announcing a talk based channel) really does show that the channel is finished at this rate. I bet by next year it will be closed and seen as a cautionary tale of how not to operate a news service

[Blewatter]

I was very prepared to give it a chance, but I don't consider it a News Service in the slightest. At best, its like the opinion column of a midmarket newspaper, mixed with a cut rate Good Morning Britain style of presentation.

[Martin Phillp]

If GB News's aim was to give a certain section of the right a voice as a challenger brand, it's failed.

Maybe they should looked at talkRADIO's Rajar to see that while there's an audience for that type of thing, their type of Conservatism is a niche product compared to LBC which is a much broader opinion product which is also mixed with impartial news and analysis.

If it survives, it's because the backers have money to throw away to ensure there's a different voice of opinion on tv, but it's not going to change the general public into changing their beliefs, but will preach to the converted.

RT recently axed their UK bulletins after I suspect Putin and co realised that British audiences can see through pro-Russian propaganda and stuck with mainstream news sources.

[noqmeb]

I was disappointed with the channel, it is making progress, but it might be too late to change opinion. I will give Eamonn Holmes a try.