The report found that GB News predominantly frames news "in ways that overlap with Reform’s political agenda"
A new investigation, led by the former editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, has concluded that GB News has become ‘Reform TV’.
The investigation was published by The New World, where Rusbridger is editor-at-large, and found that GB News has repeatedly broken broadcasting rules and has “essentially become Reform TV”.
The New World assembled a team of 20 senior journalists from a range of outlets including the Daily Mail, the Sunday Telegraph, the Guardian and the BBC, who analysed 15 hours of GB News programming against Ofcom’s guidelines.
The investigation uncovered “numerous glaring breaches of impartiality” in GB News’ coverage.
These breaches included a “widespread disregard for accuracy”, a predominant framing of news that aligns with Reform’s political agenda, a “systemic use of Reform politicians, candidates and supporters,” and an “overwhelmingly right wing bias” in the selection of guests and issues.
One of the journalists wrote of Bev Turner’s interview with Donald Trump in November 2025, “No reasonable person could regard this interview as journalistic in character… it is an exercise in regime-compliant propaganda that barely bothers to present itself as reporting.”
There have been 32 complaints about the Trump interview, but no action has been taken in regard to these complaints.
Another journalist heavily criticised Matt Goodwin’s show, saying it “Absolutely did not comply” with broadcasting standards.
“It was one man’s rant against immigration, supported by compliant and affirmative opinions and a pretence of an opposing view that was shut down rapidly. It was a disgrace,” the journalist wrote.
In another segment, GB News presenter Nana Akua celebrated Nadhim Zahawi’s defection from the Tories to Reform, calling him the type of “heavy hitter” Reform needed to boost its credibility.
However, Akua neglected to mention that Zahawi was previously fired from government over tax issues. Furthermore, to address Zahawi’s 2015 tweet calling Nigel Farage “racist”, Akua implied that Zahawi’s defection served as evidence that Reform is not, in fact, racist.
The journalists were asked to score the programmes on a scale of 0-5 (0 being not at all compliant with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code and 5 being wholly compliant). The overall score GB News received for its compliance with broadcasting rules was just 1.5.
The report is critical of Ofcom’s role in allowing GB News to breach the broadcasting code, saying it “has more or less given up the ghost” when it comes to regulating the channel.
Chris Banatvala, who was Ofcom’s founding director of standards responsible for drafting and enforcing its first broadcasting code, told The New World: “It now appears that Ofcom has abandoned any pretence that meaningful regulation of broadcast content is still being maintained”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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