GB News accounted for half of all news broadcast coverage of Muslims in the past two years, much of it negative, a new report has found.
Research by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) concluded that the right-wing broadcaster demonstrated an “excessive” focus on Muslims that bordered on an “obsession” in its analysis.
It concluded that stories about Islam were “overwhelmingly negative” and suggested the coverage could fuel community tensions and contribute to civil unrest.
Depicting Muslims as a Trojan horse
The two-year analysis found that GB News mentioned Muslims or Islam more than 17,000 times in its output, which they say accounted for almost 50 per cent of total mentions on UK news channels.
BBC News and Sky News accounted for 32 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
The report found that GB News was particularly focused on domestic stories on these topics in comparison with its rival channels, where foreign news contributed a greater amount to their output.
It also alleged that Muslims and their beliefs are often presented on GB News as part of a conspiracy to undermine Britain or the British way of life. This takes the form of depicting Muslims as a Trojan horse in the UK.
Summer riots
During last summer’s riots, GB News accounted for 62 per cent of all clips on UK news channels that associated Muslims with the riots.
Researchers allege that GB News repeatedly framed Muslims as “perpetrators rather than victims of violence”, pushed disinformation and that the channel “downplayed attacks on mosques and Muslim communities”.
Commenting on the findings, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said: “The consistent stereotyping and stigmatisation of British Muslim communities as the “enemy” or the “problem” by a platform with millions of viewers is deliberate, dangerous and has real life consequences.
“Seeing the impact of far-right radicalisation with the alarming year-on-year rise in anti-Muslim hatred, culminating in this summer’s riots where mosques and Muslim communities were openly targeted, should have been a wake-up call for all.”
A GB News spokesperson said: “This inaccurate and defamatory report is nothing more than a cynical, self-serving attempt to silence free speech. It proves exactly why a news organisation like GB News needs to exist and why it is succeeding.
“We are concerned that at no point did this project of the Muslim Council of Britain contact GB News or its presenters to allow them to respond to these highly defamatory allegations.”
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