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Ofcom has rules on broadcaster impartiality – so why is GB News getting away with breaking them?

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loriagne.bsky.social @loriagne.bsky.social · 8h

Ofcom has rules on broadcaster impartiality – so why is GB News getting away with breaking them?
theconversation.com/ofcom-has-ru...

Evidence shows the public still want impartiality from broadcasters.

theconversation.com

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Matt Walsh @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social · 9h

The Guardian has written up our latest research looking at whether or not the public is in favour of politicians presenting news or current affairs programmes - and showing that some viewers are labouring under factual misapprehensions.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/o...

GB News viewers more likely to wrongly believe net migration to UK rising, study finds

Research also finds majority of people are against letting politicians front current affairs programmes

Research also finds majority of people are against letting politicians front current affairs programmes A larger proportion of people who frequently watch GB News wrongly believe that net migration to the UK is increasing than those of other major channels, according to a study examining public attitudes to broadcasting impartiality. Research by Cardiff University, seen by the Guardian, also found public opposition to allowing politicians to front current affairs programmes – contradicting research carried out by regulator, Ofcom. Continue reading...

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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 10h

GB News viewers more likely to wrongly believe net migration to UK rising, study finds

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · 5d

Once again, my @gwr.com train ride experience is me repeatedly trying to connect to wi fi and failing… 😡

Complaints vs breaches: An analysis of how often BBC and Ofcom find broadcasters have broken rules on impartiality — Researching the impartiality of political news

Dr Keighley Perkins @perkinskeighley.bsky.social · 6d

Following on from our Conversation article, Dr @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social, Dr @maxwellmodell.bsky.social, Prof. @stephencushion.bsky.social & I have just published a deeper dive into the Ofcom and BBC complaints data for 2025 on our website.

🔗 www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog/ofcom-b...

TLDR 👇

On 25 September 2025, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) published its ruling on the livestream of a Glastonbury performance by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan that featured alleged hate speech.. T...

www.enhancingimpartiality.com

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Michael Savage @michaelsavage.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: Last month, a delegation from GB News entered the White House & met with Trump.

Senior Trump figures turned up at its US launch party. Could it now become Trump’s preferred outlet in Europe?

It’s reopened the debate over Ofcom’s oversight of impartiality.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

GB News’s US expansion feared to be new way for Trumpian views to reach UK audience

White House backing was on full display as GB News launched The Late Show Live

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab

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Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 13d

Come work with us 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.

Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.

Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.

DL 🗓️ November 1

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

werkenbij.uva.nl

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Dr Keighley Perkins @perkinskeighley.bsky.social · 16d

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) has ruled that the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set broke editorial guidelines on harm and offence – but did not breach impartiality rules or encourage crime.

🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

TLDR 👇

BBC partly upholds complaints over Bob Vylan's Glastonbury set

The broadcast of Bob Vylan's set at Glastonbury broke editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · 19d

Is the rise in use of TikTok a good or bad thing? Our new @cujournmedcul.bsky.social project will be examining the impartiality of news produced on TikTok across 🇬🇧 broadcasters and comparing it to other forms of news output 👇

Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 19d

20% of US adults say they now regularly get news on Tiktok, up from 3% in 2020.

By age, 43% of 18-29s often get news on Tiktok, 25% of 30-49s, 10% of 50-64s and 3% of 65+. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020

Among adults under 30, 43% say they regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020.

www.pewresearch.org

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Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 19d

20% of US adults say they now regularly get news on Tiktok, up from 3% in 2020.

By age, 43% of 18-29s often get news on Tiktok, 25% of 30-49s, 10% of 50-64s and 3% of 65+. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020

Among adults under 30, 43% say they regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020.

www.pewresearch.org

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Dr Keighley Perkins @perkinskeighley.bsky.social · 23d

At the Lib Dem conference, Sir Ed Davey accused the BBC of giving Nigel Farage and Reform UK too much uncritical airtime — going so far as to say its coverage sometimes looks like “copy and paste” from party press releases.

🔗 www.lbc.co.uk/article/ed-d...

TLDR 👇

#impartiality #journalism

Ed Davey accuses BBC of 'copying Reform press releases' and urges broadcaster to expose Nigel Farage | LBC

Sir Ed Davey has accused the BBC of

www.lbc.co.uk

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Michael Savage @michaelsavage.bsky.social · 27d

NEW: Broadcasters now in no doubt about the all consuming power of YouTube - they join forces for govt/regulators to step in for fairer revenue and prominence…

YouTube take a big slice of ad revenue.

All a sign of the power YouTube now wields…

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

UK’s public sector broadcasters demand more prominence on YouTube to combat misinformation

Bosses say independent news needs to be promoted on social platforms that increasing numbers of viewers are turning to

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

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rasmuskleis.bsky.social @rasmuskleis.bsky.social · 27d

What if one could automatically monitor what politicians promise and enhance the ability to check, at scale, whether they deliver?

Pledgetracker, by @fullfact.org and researchers, tries to retrieve relevant evidence and reduce human verification effort.

Read their preprint here: lnkd.in/ec5gHYV9

lnkd.in

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · 27d

Important decision now for all journalists in Wales - how much scrutiny will they pay to Reform’s policies ahead of the Senedd elections even if the party won’t speak to them 🤔 👇

Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 27d

Nation Cymru has claimed Reform UK faces has extended its Nottinghamshire media ban to Wales, as the party and its councillors are refusing to speak to its journalists. Editor Emily Price said it's an “undemocratic Donald Trump style wall of silence”

A news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales.

Society welcomes pledge by government to ensure prominence of public service media content – Society of Editors

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Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 27d

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said public service media content should be prominent on major video sharing platforms like Youtube and on "fair commercial terms", saying: "If we need to regulate we will".
www.societyofeditors.org/soe_news/soc...

Society of Editors. Protecting the freedom of the news media

www.societyofeditors.org

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Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 27d

Nation Cymru has claimed Reform UK faces has extended its Nottinghamshire media ban to Wales, as the party and its councillors are refusing to speak to its journalists. Editor Emily Price said it's an “undemocratic Donald Trump style wall of silence”

A news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales.

Using public opinion to serve journalistic narratives: Rethinking vox pops and live two-way reporting in five UK election campaigns (2009–2017) - Stephen Cushion, 2018

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Jac Larner @jaclarner.bsky.social · 29d

Latest ITV BarnCymru 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 poll confirms trend seen over last 6 months - neck and neck race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK for largest party, with Labour falling to even more distant third. Evidence growing of distinct realignment in Wales 🧵

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · 29d

Late to this but we did a comprehensive study of how broadcasters construct public opinion, including in vox pops, revealing where journalistic assumptions can misrepresent the public - journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The news media are often accused of reporting politics in a too narrow and consensual way, excluding certain perspectives and issues that might better reflect t...

journals.sagepub.com

Interpreting UKIP's ‘Earthquake’ in British Politics: UK Television News Coverage of the 2009 and 2014 EU Election Campaigns

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

With more resources, we could have gone back into 2024 but that didn’t coincide with Reform lead in opinion polls which was our focus.

I have been studying Farage for a lot longer - see this study of UKIP and its leader in 2009 and 2014 - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

UK broadcasters came under fire for the amount of airtime UKIP and its leader Nigel Farage received after the party won the most votes in the 2014 EU election. Our content analysis of television news...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

Yes, we looked at and found evidence of that - (see link) - a longer and more detailed study could explore the concept of issue ownership in media coverage (immigration in particular) bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 12

Reform UK was the protagonist in almost four in ten stories they featured in (primarily in post-election coverage or in reports about internal issues with the party’s leadership). In contrast, fewer than one in ten were led by the Liberal Democrats. 3/6 public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...

Graph 2: Proportion of TV news items featuring Reform UK and Liberal Democrats as the protagonist in stories between January and July 2025

A Flourish data visualization by Maxwll Modell

public.flourish.studio

BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

Agree on need for debate - hopefully our studies and data can provide some evidence to inform future debates bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 12

Our new impartiality study out and in The Guardian - We found Reform given more airtime on TV news likely due to broadcasters taking into account the party’s latest electoral performance and sustained lead in the polls over several months. Thread 1/6: www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

Nigel Farage’s party featured in considerably more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months, study finds

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

Thanks - that would be really helpful and something our project can look closely at 👍

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

I don’t suppose you have any documentation saved from official guidance in the past about prioritising number of seats - it would be interesting to contrast that with current guidance?

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

It’s a debate that should be had - how should broadcasters allocate airtime within regulatory rules www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and...

www.ofcom.org.uk

Blog — Researching the impartiality of political news

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 14

It’s a complicated issue - one of our studies examining debate programmes like question time found it was mainly Lab and Con politicians featured - so limited airtime for Reform, Lib Dems etc - hopefully our project can provide hard evidence to this debate: www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog

www.enhancingimpartiality.com

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Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 13

Anyone interested in reading the full Cardiff University @cujournmedcul.bsky.social study about coverage of Reform mentioned on this week’s Newswatch can find it here: bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Cushion @stephencushion.bsky.social · Sep 12

Our new impartiality study out and in The Guardian - We found Reform given more airtime on TV news likely due to broadcasters taking into account the party’s latest electoral performance and sustained lead in the polls over several months. Thread 1/6: www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage

Nigel Farage’s party featured in considerably more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months, study finds