GB News Under Attack

Just days after launch, GB News – a self-styled anti-woke TV news channel that aims to displace the BBC and other mainstays on the British airwaves – has garnered a higher viewership than both the BBC and Sky News combined. And its detractors are noticing. 

In the weeks and months ahead of its launch, the channel, spearheaded by Andrew Neil,  faced massive opposition from mainstream journalists and activists on the left who were more than eager to keep it from lifting off the ground. A large-scale social media campaign called #StopFundingHate was established to attack advertisers of the fledgling channel and coerce them into a boycott. 

Leftist activists, journalists, and even former politicians joined the fray, demanding that companies “stop funding hate.” 

It didn’t work. Just days after IKEA and Vodafone announced on social media that they would be suspending their advertising on GB News, the companies walked back their statements – no doubt in response to the impressive numbers already boasted by the channel since its launch on June 13. 

IKEA wrote: 

“As a newly launched channel, we recognise that it is simply too soon to make an informed decision as to whether advertising there is in line with our advertising policy and brand guidelines. We want to make it clear that it was not our intention to polarise our customers or others in this debate, and a decision on our future approach will be taken in due course.” 

Other advertisers that pledged to join the boycott will no doubt follow suit as market forces ultimately determine their decisions. 

Attempts to damage GB News’ launch cannot be ignored. Mainstream media outlets like Huffington Post, The Independent, and Metro have run negative stories back-to-back about the channel, reporting on its supposed failures and disappointments, as well as its issues with the advertising boycott.

Attempts to stifle the voices who contribute to a network that values independent thought over wokeism highlight the media’s embrace of dishonesty to promote a narrative – even at the cost of their own viewership.

Numbers for the BBC are on the decline, and with good reason. When a network promotes an “educational” series that depicts medieval and classical Britons as people of color, in contradiction to real history, or when it scolds white people for “cultural appropriation” in its comedies, it’s no surprise that viewers are being turned off and being driven away in droves. 

A study by the Campaign for Common Sense in late 2020 found that three in four shows on the BBC are “taken up by woke left-wing or anti-Brexit comedians.” The ratio is in stark contrast to the voting public – after all, 52% of Britain voted for Brexit. 

The same can be said of CNN across the pond, where viewership has cratered. The cable network lost over half of its key demographic viewership in May, and projections for the days ahead look grim without stories on Trump to drive the ratings. Because hate clicks were the only thing that brought them numbers, CNN has had to fall back on attacking lesser-known Republican figures – with little success. 

In comparison to CNN, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has claimed the number one spot for several weeks straight. His content reflects what the public is talking about – Critical Race Theory, state-enforced social distancing mandates, and the surging border crisis – all issues avoided and ignored by the mainstream. 

Much like GB News, Tucker Carlson is also facing a boycott effort led by the U.S.-based Sleeping Giants, which successfully pressured advertisers into pulling their sales from Breitbart. They’re now attempting – alongside dozens of other progressive organizations including Black Lives Matter and GLAAD – to pressure companies into pulling their ads from Carlson’s show. 

Similarly, the demand for high-quality independent journalism can be seen with the rise of Substack and its luminaries, independent journalists Bari Weiss, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and so on – all of whom have faced cancel campaigns for their perceived unwokeness.

Efforts to damage GB News and any other outlet, publisher, and independent journalist are based on the threat alternative media poses to the establishment. The public is thirsting for an unbiased, or, at the very minimum, an alternative – a voice to challenge the narrative. The numbers speak for themselves.

All things considered, GB News’ future looks bright, Fox News is unlikely to kill its golden goose by giving in to the mob, and every independent journalist with a following will continue to have their following no matter where they go. In the face of so much opposition, it will doubtless be a challenge for everyone on the dissenting right. Despite the difficulties ahead, the tides are clearly turning and the numbers reflect the public’s demand. 

You can’t cancel all of us. 

You can follow Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter @stillgray