Two initiatives are being launched in the UK for alternative “Fox News-style” outlets to challenge the country’s flagship BBC, according to The Guardian.
In an effort to bust the BBC’s monopoly on television news output, one group, which goes by the provisional name of GB News is promising something, “distinctly different from the out-of-touch incumbents” and has reportedly already been issued a broadcasting licence by regulator, Ofcom.
One of GB News’ co-founders, Andrew J. Cole, has written on his Linkedin profile that it will be a “new TV channel for the UK and EU markets” and he also slams the BBC as a “disgrace.”
Previously Mr Cole wrote in an article on his Linkedin that the BBC was, “possibly the most biased propaganda machine in the world… [and to] watch out for announcements of famous presenters and the launch of a completely new TV news channel for the UK - one that will be distinctly different from the out-of-touch incumbents.”
“The people need and want this new perspective,” Mr Coal added.
According to The Guardian, sources have said that GB News is in discussions with Discovery Inc, which is a multinational mass media company based in New York City, about the possibility of a “tie-up” deal that will presumably see the two organisations working together. Mr Cole also sits on the board of Liberty Global, a multinational telecommunications company with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver.
Mr Cole has allegedly said that he will release more information about the upcoming channel from September.
The Guardian alleges that another project is being launched out of the headquarters of news giant Rupert Murdoch’s “British media empire” by a former Fox News executive named David Rhodes, the brother of Ben Rhodes, a speech writer and National Security Advisor to former US President Barack Obama.
Mr Rhodes was hired by News UK - which includes The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and talkSport - and is said to be supported by Lachlan Murdoch, the man slated to take over the Murdoch empire when his father passes away. Currently, it is unclear whether this project will take the eventual form of a television channel, or online-only content. However, on his Linkedin profile, Mr Rhodes has written, “see what we’ll do on the screen in the coming months.”
The news comes at a time when there is increasing criticism of the BBC over what some see as its biases and recent embrace of a politically correct agenda.
Most recently, the BBC was slammed as out of touch for dropping the lyrics to the famous national anthems Rule, Britannia! And Land of Hope and Glory at the BBC Proms because of perceived ties to imperialism and colonialism.
Widespread public and political backlash quickly followed.
A YouGov survey found that 55 percent of Brits opposed the BBC’s decision to perform only an instrumental version of the song. Just 5 percent said that they felt the songs should not be performed at all. In unprecedented condemnation of the BBC, Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused the corporation of “wetness.”
Taking aim at the politically correct, Mr Johnson said to reporters that, “I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture and we stop this general bout of self-recrimination and wetness.”
The BBC issued a statement saying that at next year’s Proms, the songs would once again be sung.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, these songs will be sung next year. We obviously share the disappointment of everyone that the Proms will have to be different but believe this is the best solution in the circumstances and look forward to their traditional return next year,” a BBC spokesperson said.