Colleague made sarky comment about me re. GB News

[OneStepBeyondd]

Discussion at work earlier - does anyone watch the news. Another colleague and I said we don’t mind GB news on occasion to which someone said (directed at me) - ‘I didn’t have you down as one of them’ in a judgemental tone.

Is it me or is that a bit rude and unnecessary?

@RoseofRoses

Yes, reputable. The editorial slant is obviously left but they are a reputable source of news. I disagree with their editorial slant but it is important to read things one disagrees with. The Times is slanted right, and, again, I don’t agree with everything I read. I find both papers reporting on World events excellent. Alongside R4 and the World Service (decimated as it is) I am fairly well informed.

Ok then.

I would say watch what you want…the judgement is unreal…

The Guardian is surely just bought in great swathes by the BBC 🙄

Wrong place to drop a GB bomb…you must step away and conform immediately 😂

I would have raised my eyebrows too. Like most people, I am aware that GBNews is only a news channel in name and is actually a far right propoganda machine spewing hate and lies dressed up as information and personal interest stories. If you cannot discern the difference between actual news and bias spin funded by self interested millionnaires, you should keep quiet about it.

And yet you’ve never watched it either? But are prepared to defend it.

The judgement is very real. Admit to watching stupid, have people think you’re stupid. It’s not that complicated.

Its a bit like saying you voted Trump, some things are best kept to yourself

Or maybe...it’s just a basic ability to handle watching something without immediately losing all critical thinking skills?

This idea that only your preferred media counts as news while everything else is “utter nonsense” is exactly the kind of echo chamber situ that’s made public debate so brittle. If someone’s watching a range of sources and thinking for themselves, they’re probably doing better than most.

It’s unintelligent to not get it. Or you’re acting dumb. I’m not defending GB news, I’m defending people’s right to choose whatever they want they watch.

Why? It doesn't mean that you agree with what they spout. I like the indignation the younger man demonstrates. He's like a 13 year old schoolboy who doesn't have the full capacity to understand what's going on and the wider picture. My DP often asks me if I put it on so I've got an excuse to shout at the television.

And I don’t even care 😂 sick to the back teeth of these judgey do gooders trying to put people down because of what they believe in or simply what they watch on the television 🙄 and the quickest way to try and shut us up is by calling us racist, homophobic or whatever else they can come up with. Really pisses me off

Glad you find him entertaining, I find him bigoted, extremist, not overly concerned with reality/actual facts and not particularly well informed on a multitude of subjects that he holds strong opinions on.

Absolutely.

This is a very sensible reply 👍

I work for a 'naice' supermarket and complained to management that I didn't think GB News should be allowed on the staff canteen TV bc it doesn't fit the inclusive ethos of the brand. Our manager agreed with me. I judge the guy who continues to put it on

Whatever news you consume, it’s really important to understand the political angle they are coming from. I quite enjoy a bit of daily mail outrage and will often skim the headlines but taking it with a pinch of salt, aware of the editorial aims.

I used to rely on BBC but more recently I’ve found Sky News to be more balanced. That surprised me and I’m happy to be told I’m wrong there. I also speak to my family in USA and Canada to compare big news stories. I find the variations in reporting fascinating.

If a colleague said GB News was their go to source, I’d assume they are a reform voter.

I’m defending people’s right to choose whatever they want they watch.

Of course people can watch what they want but people will make judgements based on that

GB News radicalises people into far right, racist, misogynistic views. Your colleagues were calling you out on that. Rightly so.

To be fair, if you’ve said something racist or homophobic you definitely should shut up

Sinister would be way more accurate than entertaining.

This is the kind of dismissive approach that was taken towards Trump when it seemed very unlikely that he would be in power for a second term, And now look where we are…

This isn’t new. In the 1980s my mum refused to let my dad get the sun newspaper in case it accidentally got delivered next door because “what would the neighbours think?!” … we didn’t even like the bloody neighbours 😂

Don’t you see how this is reminiscent of Trump though? People thought he was funny, wacky, entertaining, said what he really thought.

9 years later and he’s deporting innocent citizens of his own country to prisons in El Salvador with no due process, and presides over a country where dead women are kept alive as vessels for unborn babies.

He’s not stupid; his (entirely false) affable ‘I’m just like that guy you know down the pub’ shtick is his methodology.

I have heard it all now - utter tosh!

Yeah, I’d be giving you a wide berth. Like identifies with like.

This idea that only your preferred media counts as news while everything else is “utter nonsense” is exactly the kind of echo chamber situ that’s made public debate so brittle. If someone’s watching a range of sources and thinking for themselves, they’re probably doing better than most.

But if one of the sources has been evaluated by an independent organisation like Factcheck
"Overall, we rate GB News Right Biased and Questionable based on a lack of transparency with ownership and funding, numerous failed fact checks, and the promotion of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience."

Then why should it be given any credibility and treated the same as actual, reputable news sources? Even less for all the people for who it is their only "news" sources.