MX23RW : Saturday, September 21 08:27:56| >> :600:114103938:114103938:

Andrew Neil: "GB News will be proud of our country"

Andrew Neil explains the editorial ethos of his soon-to-launch GB News channel.

GB News chairman Andrew Neil has promised that the new station will be "robust" with its reporting but will also offer an alternative to "blame and divisive argument".

The UK's first major new news channel in more than 20 years, GB News is expected to launch in the coming months with a schedule focussed on programming and presenters rather than the standard rolling news format offered by the likes of Sky News and the BBC.

Explaining the channel's editorial ethos in a piece for the Sunday Express, Neil - credited with launching Sky News in the 1980s - wrote: "We will build a community, with programmes led by journalists and commentators with warmth, character, knowledge, humour and yes, at times, some edge.

"We will not operate on the assumption that every problem demands a government solution. Or that every solution must necessarily involve more taxpayers' money.

"We will even broadcast the good news, perish the thought! Seriously, we believe the British appetite for endless gloom, doom, blame and divisive argument is waning. People feel exhausted and battered by it.

"GB News will be proud of our country, even when revealing its shortcomings and its inequalities. Our default position will not be to do Britain down at every turn.

"We will be robust in holding all politicians to account - no-one can doubt my credentials in that regard - but we won't operate on the basis that they're all lying and incompetent. GB News will be passionate but it won't be shouty, angry television that denies people the space to have their say."

From launch the channel aims to be available to more than 96% of households in the UK and Ireland, with carriage already secured on Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat.

ID:434364: cacheID:434364:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2451:

Follow us on X/Twitter and like us on Facebook for the latest entertainment news alerts.

Media Mole Low-Price Offer: Get Sky Entertainment, Sky Stream & Netflix for just £20 a month + £0 upfront fee for 24 months!
Prices may change during this period. Ends November 6, 2024

Restore Data
Share this article now:
Rupert Murdoch pictured in March 2016
Read Next:
Rupert Murdoch's new news channel gets broadcasting licence
>
Read more about Andrew Neil Entertainment
rhs 2.0
New TV Picks header

Monday, September 16


Hollyoaks: E4, 7pm and Channel 4 streaming, from 7am
One. Year. Later.

Married At First Sight UK: E4, 9pm
A fresh batch of plucky singletons take on "the experiment"

My Mum, Your Dad: ITV1, 9pm
... or if you prefer your singletons to be more mature, watch ITV

Nightsleeper: BBC One, 9pm
The remaining passengers turn on Joe, while the hijackers' demand is revealed

Coronation Street: ITV1, 8pm
Lauren receives a mystery visitor who may hold the key to bringing Joel down

The Wives: Channel 5, 9pm
New Med-set drama starring Jo Joyner, Angela Griffin and Tamzin Outhwaite