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TELL OFCOM: Climate scientists can be trusted on the climate, GB News can’t

Watch: GB News host cites bad science and a climate sceptic blog from two years ago to call into question the trustworthiness of climate scientists.

Read our complaint on GB News

On 27 July 2024, GB News host Leo Kearse challenged climate scientists’ trustworthiness by providing some bad science and a climate sceptic blog from 2022, which was falsely presented as current news.

Their claims violated Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7, which require impartiality, accuracy and avoiding misrepresenting facts. Submit your complaint to Ofcom using this form and by following the guidance below. 

Programme details:

Programme title: Saturday Night Showdown
Date of broadcast: 27 July 2024
Time of broadcast (24 hour clock): 20:21
Channel / station*: GB News

Your complaint:

Subject: GB News host Leo Kearse cited a climate sceptic blog, and misrepresented the date of it, to cast doubt on whether we can “trust climate scientists”. This segment violated Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7 requiring impartiality and accuracy.

Description:

Here’s a few bullet points to include:

  • On 27 July 2024, GB News host Leo Kearse made a series of misleading and unscientific claims about the climate in an effort to discredit climate scientists. 
  • First Kearse cited bad weather in the UK in July as evidence to cast doubt that July 2024 was the “hottest July on record” and challenge more widely the trustworthiness of climate scientists. There are several issues with this: 1) climate scientists are not claiming that July 2024 was the hottest July on record, 2) instances of bad weather do not undermine a high average UK/global temperature over a whole month.
  • He also cited climate sceptic outlet The Daily Sceptic’s blog post and subsequent coverage by Lincolnshire Live calling into question a record temperature. These articles were written in November 2022 in reference to 19 July 2022, but Kearse presented this coverage as current news. Kearse used these examples to ask “can we trust climate scientists?” and to allege that they “could be gaslighting us”.
  • The fact that Kearse is not only citing a climate sceptic blog in order to undermine climate science, but also misrepresenting the dates in question, is a clear breach of accuracy and impartiality required in Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7.
Deadline for complaints: August 23, 2024 11:59 pm

Submitting a complaint to Ofcom should take you less than 10 minutes and is completed via a form on their website.

Go straight to OFCOM
Read our guide

Submitting a complaint to Ofcom should take you less than 10 minutes and is completed via a form on their website.

  • Ofcom is the UK’s public regulator for communications services. Among other responsibilities, their job is to ensure that TV channels uphold the Broadcasting Code. This code requires broadcasters to protect the public from harmful and offensive material, avoid unjust or unfair treatment of individuals and organisations, and report the news with due accuracy and impartiality.
  • Ofcom has real power to yield. Sanctions they can issue include directions not to repeat content, fines — and crucially, the power to suspend or revoke a TV channel’s licence to broadcast.
  • Ofcom must carefully consider every single complaint to see if their rules have been broken. If the complaint is strong, Ofcom will launch a formal investigation process.
  • Ofcom will not reply to each specific complaint but instead publishes records of the complaints received, investigations underway and breaches on their website, every fortnight.
  • Complaints must be about a specific breach of the code and submitted within 20 days of the program going to air.