The GB News experiment
Photo by Scott Evans
In recent years, our media has become obsessed with making its content popular by appealing to our worst nature. Where once we only had to worry about fear mongering in the morning newspaper and on the television three times a day, the omnipresence of the internet now click-baits users into submission in the form of tweets and posts aimed at capitalising on even the most miniscule amount of time available. In June this year a new frontrunner emerged in this race to the bottom in the form of GB News, brainchild of the recently vacated Daily Politics mainstay Andrew Neil. The former Daily Mail columnist and close associate of Rupert Murdoch made claims that GB News would be ‘an appointment to view’, with its first night on air on Sunday the 13th scoring higher viewer ratings than The BBC and Sky News in the same time slots. However, two months on from the initial launch of the new channel it is already clear that the project has received a much more mixed outcome, far from the raving success that Neil originally predicted.
As many had predicted, the presenting style of GB News is heavily influenced by populist American media such as Fox News. From the red, white and blue colour palette that had been seen in promotional videos to the selection of hosts such as mainstream political personality Nigel Farage, the content established a faux-patriotic feeling in the ilk of booing your country’s national football team in the build up to a major tournament. Naturally, it did not take long for this kind of broadcasting to divide opinion in Britain and shows on the network soon became subject to internet trolling. This, coupled with a widespread pull out of advertisements from sponsors of the show who felt that the organisation violated their desire to stay non-partisan, has seemingly led to the departure of Mr Neil who two months on from his ‘short break from hosting duties’ is nowhere to be seen. Could this mean that the new broadcaster on the block is doomed to a short life? And if so, is it entirely unintentional?
Reach vs Ratings
It was always unclear whether the channel would have the resources to generate reach, ratings or neither. There have been cries for years now that the way in which we consume news is changing rapidly, moving away from the previously mentioned print and television models towards social media and mobile apps. However, with the past years’ breakaway from normality and almost weekly government press-conferences being broadcast live on the BBC it is no surprise that TV news viewership is up by 14%. Perhaps GB News was already in the pipe works prior to this, or perhaps it is a deliberate attempt to capitalise on the resurgence of televised news.
It is undeniable that the way in which GB News has been set up is not to be aesthetically clean like other mainstream news shows. The content is reminiscent of smaller media brands such as LBC with a low effort broadcast style and high reliance on creating short, viral clips that span beyond their initial segment and are easily digestible in the short amounts of time that users have available to them. In its first week on the air the channel has been consistently trending on Twitter with users either praising their content or mocking their failures, including a new online sport of calling up segment hosts with fake names. Despite being hounded by prank names and featuring some truly bizarre segments, this move towards a Fox News style channel in the UK could signal a shift away from the relative impartiality we expect of British media.
The Beginning of the End for Traditional Journalism?
The coming months will ultimately prove decisive for GB News as they struggle on either with or without Andrew Neil. Despite the undeniably passionate initial reactions, interest in segments such as ‘woke watch’ - no doubt developed with the aim of generating online discussions - have failed to live up to the hype that threatened to cascade into something resembling longevity. In fact if Twitter, the online barometer of public opinion, is anything to go by then the channel have failed to trend since Neil’s departure. Their longest stint in the ultimate arena of conversation came with tweets regarding pranksters trolling unsuspecting presenters.
It may seem trivial to some but the advent of a new media outlet has at least shaken up the environment surrounding news broadcasting if nothing else. Though it is unclear how much longer its shows will be on the air, GB News has opened the door to populist broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Even if the channel fades into obscurity in its current format, it would perhaps be incorrect to suggest that it had been an abject failure. The broadcaster has opened the door to a new journalistic approach in the United Kingdom; those who birthed the channel emboldened in their confidence that a populist brand of broadcasting can challenge tradition in the information age. Whether or not you agree with its methods and practices GB News has certainly managed to garner viewership and capture the ever fleeting public’s attention, if only for a short while.