Britain News Channel
(Picture: Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)Just over a quarter of people (27 per cent) think GB News is biased, compared to 42 per cent who think BBC News is, a poll has revealed. Well, a poll commissioned by GB News themselves, that is.
In news which is not really news when you think about it, The Telegraph also reported that one in three people (34 per cent) surveyed by research company CT Group branded the corporation as “woke” – a term meaning “alert to injustice” which has since been used as a pejorative adjective by right-wingers.
Writing on Twitter, Insider reporter Henry Dyer noted that the chief executive of CT Group is none other than Lynton Crosby, an Australian political strategist noted for helping Boris Johnson to win two successive terms as Mayor of London, and assisting David Cameron to secure a victory in the 2015 general election.
Dyer also went on to add that CT Group isn’t even a member of the British Polling Council, which “promotes transparency in polling”. Its president is Professor John Curtice, a pollster well-known for appearing on BBC News during their coverage of general elections.
The polling is also by CT Group, Lynton Crosby's lobbying firm and political consultancy. Which, er, isn't on the British Polling Council.
— Henry Dyer (@Direthoughts) August 28, 2021
The integrity of the poll, reportedly of 1,000 people, has since been scrutinised and ridiculed by Twitter users online:
"Shock Find: Biased Poll into Bias Demonstrates Bias.
— Erwotin Reotar (@eoinmonkey) August 29, 2021
Experts Stunned: "We Just Don't Know Where We Went Wrong- It Must Be The Other Guys Fault!" "
You don't find out if something is biased by asking general public. They will percieve it according to their bias. Both right and left say the bbc is biased to their opposite side. You need to actually analyse the content over a period of time.
— dale miller (@amiller127) August 29, 2021
Probably 65% of respondents said, "WTF is GB News"?
— Socially Distant David (@DatabaseSponge) August 28, 2021
27% said "GB News is biased"
— Andrew James Carter (@Carter_AndrewJ) August 29, 2021
2% said "GB News is not biased"
71% said "What the fuck is GB News?"
My survey found 100% of respondents believed GB News to be biased. 100% of respondents also believe that the Telegraph is biased. My lobbying firm is not on the British Poling Council but did survey a diverse section of society.
— easy-peasy (@EasypeasyABC123) August 29, 2021
When a business spends a disproportionate amount of time slagging off its competitors, it is is a sure sign that it’s offering a product that is fundamentally sub-standard.
— Ritchie (@Richard79873132) August 29, 2021
Poll commissioned by GB News finds that GB News is less biased than the BBC.
— Roland Smith (@rolandmcs) August 28, 2021
Fancy that, eh.
https://t.co/LbJFS6VME0
Also I'm better looking than George Clooney, a poll by er me finds...https://t.co/3SCvb6Iey9
— matt johnston #RejoinEU #3.5% (@mattjoh51030320) August 29, 2021
Others questioned the legitimacy of the headline, with others noting that there was a lack of detail about what questions people were actually add. One Twitter user also pointed out that the survey refers to people “thinking” that the news service is biased, which isn’t the same as a fact:
That is quite the headline too
— Jem Collins (@Jem_Collins) August 28, 2021
Headline and subhead actually say 2 quite different things, although we are invited to read the first as following from the second.
— Brother Brutha (@BruthaBrother) August 29, 2021
Headline is a lie as well. The research did not find the bbc is biased. At best, it found that some people think it is biased. Completely different
— Jonathan Andrew (@jonandrew10) August 29, 2021
In fact, more people thought it was not biased than biased
— Bibster (@bibster) August 29, 2021
It's also reporting this as though it's fact, rather than a baseless opinion poll of GB News viewers.
— L. T. Hewitt (@LTHewitt) August 29, 2021
This isn’t the first time that GB News has been mocked for poor statistics, either, after people ridiculed its statement that “most of our viewers live outside London”.
It’s a fact which sounds impressive, until you realise that only 13.4 per cent of the UK’s total population lives inside London – according to Eurostat research from 2019.
People have since poked fun at the news channel’s tweet, given its presenters often criticise what they call the “metropolitan elite”:
So 20% of your audience is in London. London has 13.4% of the UK population.
— SP (@SouthernPansy) August 22, 2021
So your viewership is far more concentrated in London than in the rest of the UK.
Given that 85%+ of the UK population live OUTSIDE London and each of the other TV channels will have similar audience ratios, your figures are meaningless. There is no audience figure from which to gauge you total numbers. Statistics etc.
— DavidLikesGuys ⚫ (@posnewsday) August 26, 2021
88% of the population lives outside London so you are getting a disproportionate higher viewership from London!
— TheSilentMajority (@gamtastical) August 22, 2021
Most folk live outside London ✔
— Bob not Rob (@FrancaisFarage) August 22, 2021
Breaking news for @GBNEWS fans ? pic.twitter.com/kf0wol4lyN
tell me your viewers are more likely to live in London than the average british person without telling me that your viewers are more likely to live in London than the average british person https://t.co/2Xyndo5DoN
— Luke Bailey (@imbadatlife) August 26, 2021
Population of London: 9 million
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) August 26, 2021
Total UK population: 66.6 million
% of UK living in London: 13.5%
% of GB viewers in London: c20%?
Seems GB News is celebrating being a channel of the metropolitan elite here, no? https://t.co/b3YPB7afwL
Essentially, GB News should probably stop commissioning and analysing data, stat.
