Ofcom has ruled that former GB News host, Mark Steyn broke broadcasting rules during a programme about Covid-19 vaccines. Following the ruling and the production of a 20-page document that explains the breach and Ofcom's decision, the news channel was found to have made 'potentially harmful and materially misleading" claims.
In the programme, broadcast on April 21, 2022, presenter, Mark Steyn, used official data from the UK HealthSecurity Agency (UKHSA) to draw conclusions about Covid-19 vaccinations. Specifically, the programme incorrectly claimed that official UKHSA data provided definitive evidence of a causal link between receiving a third Covid-19 vaccine and higher infection, hospitalisation and death rates.
Ofcom said that: "We have been consistently clear that, under our rules, broadcasters are free to transmit programmes which may be considered controversial and challenging, or which question statistics or other evidence produced by governments or other official sources. It can clearly be in the public interest to do so. However, with this editorial freedom comes an obligation to ensure that, when portraying factual matters, audiences are not materially misled.
"In this case, our investigation found that an episode of the Mark Steyn programme fell short of these standards – not because it exercised its editorial freedom to challenge mainstream narratives around Covid-19 vaccination – but because, in doing so, it presented a materially misleading interpretation of official data without sufficient challenge or counterweight, risking harm to viewers."
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Ofcom was alerted to this content by four complaints from viewers who considered the presenter had made “dangerous” and “fatally flawed conclusions” from the UKHSA statistics.
According to the Express, Mark Steyn quit has his role at GB News. In a report published on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the publication said that Steyn had resigned from his presenting role after he claimed the broadcaster said he would be financially responsible for any potential Ofcom fines.
In its findings, Ofcom said that the claims expressed in the programme were "materially misleading because the way the data was presented to viewers during the programme did not take account of the significant differences in age or health of people in the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups studied".
It concluded that: "We also took into account the definitive way in which the misleading interpretation of the data was presented, and the absence of adequate counterweight or genuine challenge. The programme also failed to reflect that the UKHSA reports made clear that the raw data contained within them should not be used to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the vaccine.
"Given these misleading claims were broadcast as part of a factual programme on a news and current affairs service and may have resulted in viewers making important decisions about their own health, we concluded that the programme was potentially harmful and materially misleading, in breach of Rule 2.2 of the Broadcasting Code."
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