Latest news with #Outspoken
Daily Mirror
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Carol McGiffin slams Loose Women stars and shares 'truth' behind ITV budget cuts
Former Loose Women star Carol McGiffin has slammed the ITV show and others including This Morning and Good Morning Britain as 'rubbish' Carol McGiffin hasn't held back in her criticism of ITV's daytime lineup, branding shows like Loose Women, This Morning, and Good Morning Britain as 'rubbish' and out of touch with audiences. Speaking on Dan Wootton's Outspoken podcast, the former Loose Women regular, who appeared on and off between 2000 and 2023, slammed ITV for reportedly trying to win back viewers by bringing in influencers. 'They can stand there and say, 'The reason that we're suffering is because of online TV, people don't watch TV anymore, they go online for news or entertainment or anything, or streaming services,'' she said. 'Maybe it's just because it's rubbish and they just aren't very good at it anymore. They don't consider that.' Carol returned to Loose Women with high hopes, but was left disappointed. 'When I went back to Loose Women, I thought, 'This is great, we might be able to make Loose Women great again.' But it just proved completely impossible.' She added: 'Sometimes, if I've ever seen anything on This Morning or on YouTube or whatever, you just think, 'This is ridiculous! This is not popular. This is not what people want.'' Taking aim at ITV's strategy, she said: 'They really don't know what people want, and they tell them what they want all the time and they give it to them and force it down their throats.' She also criticized ITV's assumption that influencers would attract younger viewers: 'A lot of young people never watch television… The fact that ITV thinks, 'If we get all these young influencers on, everyone's going to start watching daytime TV,' is just ridiculous.' Addressing recent job cuts and shortened programming - Loose Women will air just 30 weeks a year from 2026 - Carol said she feels 'really bad' for those affected but questioned the dramatic reactions from her former co-stars. 'The Loose Women are apparently raging about it – I haven't spoken to any of them about it. They are like, 'We were kept in the dark.' They never know what's going on. Loose Women is the poor relation so is suffering the most.' She added: 'I do feel for them, but I don't buy into this, 'All their worlds have fallen apart because this show has ended.' Hang on a minute – what did you expect? Did you think it was just going on forever? Especially in the way it is.' Carol's comments come as ITV is making significant cuts to its daytime programming, including reducing the number of weeks that Loose Women and Lorraine air, as well as merging the production teams behind Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women. These changes are part of a broader cost-cutting effort, which will also see some presenters like Andi Peters and Jeff Brazier no longer sent on location for competitions. The changes have led to staff redundancies and concerns about the future of the shows.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
GB News outcasts take fight for the Right on to YouTube
After being sacked from GB News in what he branded 'one of the biggest MSM [mainstream media] beat-ups in history', Dan Wootton soon found a new home for his tirades: YouTube. 'We are increasingly becoming an authoritarian state where dissident voices are taken down by wholesale abuses of the political and legal system,' he declared in the first episode of his Outspoken show last year. Wootton, who claims his daily broadcast provides news and opinion with 'no spin, no bias and no censorship', is not alone in moving to the platform. He has been joined by a number of other former GB News presenters – as well as a wider group of alt-Right figures – attempting to wield power over Britain's Right through their own media ventures. It is a tactic that has enjoyed remarkable success in Trump's America. But as UK news outlets move ever further into opinion-led programming and maintain their hold over audiences, can this new breed of influencers repeat the trick here? Wootton, a New Zealand-born former senior editor at The Sun, now has more than 334,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, which is sponsored by anti-ageing supplements and an underwear brand. He also clips up excerpts of his show on TikTok. Credit: YouTube/ Dan Wootton Outspoken He is currently embroiled in a High Court case over allegations that he 'catfished' a former colleague and tricked them into sending explicit images by pretending to be a woman. Other GB News figures have followed suit. Laurence Fox and Calvin Robinson, who were also ousted from the broadcaster in the wake of sexist remarks made by Fox on Wootton's show, have established YouTube channel Reclaim The Media, which they describe as an 'antidote to our biased MSM'. After being ejected from the airwaves, these figures have joined a small but vocal group of online influencers attempting to influence Right-wing British politics. Carl Benjamin, who also uses the pseudonym Sargon of Akkad, has been a prominent figure on YouTube in recent years and in 2020 set up Lotus Eaters, which now hosts Robinson's Common Sense Crusade show. Triggernometry, a self-proclaimed free speech channel set up by comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, has racked up more than 1.3m subscribers, while more recently Reform has been attempting to boost its youth support base through 22-year-old activist and TikTok influencer Nicholas Lissack. In many ways, the shift online is a facsimile of the step change in US media, where the alt-Right has gained ground since Donald Trump's first administration. This has only accelerated with his second term in office as close ally Elon Musk has used his ownership of X to turn the social media platform into a Maga mouthpiece. Podcasters such as Joe Rogan played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the 2024 election, particularly by harnessing the support of young men. The influence exerted by these figures is now such that Tim Pool, a pro-Trump podcaster accused of taking money from Russia to promote Kremlin propaganda, was this week granted a question at a White House press briefing, even as established outlets such as the Associated Press have been excluded. Would-be British influencers are now trying to mimic the trend as they capitalise on what they view as dwindling trust in conventional media outlets. 'The appeal is the same as you're seeing in the US. It's this distrust of traditional media amongst a particular group of people,' says Nic Newman, at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 'And now the ability to listen to somebody who you identify with, whose view you share and is representing things that previously wouldn't have been seen on mainstream TV.' There are other motivations for moving online as audiences increasingly ditch traditional TV. Piers Morgan last year quit Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV to pursue his own show on YouTube, describing his nightly broadcast slot as a 'straitjacket'. But for the GB News rejects and other alt-Right figures, the move to social media reflects a desire to exert influence over the political right with viewpoints that would not be allowed on regulated broadcast TV. Wootton, who was also sacked as a columnist by the Daily Mail, frequently launches personal attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and his wife. He has criticised Farage's 'tack to the centre', suggesting he should take a harder line on Islam, and called for 'some kind of union' on the Right. On Reclaim The Media, Fox and Robinson similarly accused Farage of trying to 'appease' Islam, while branding the Reform leader the 'wokest politician in Westminster'. In a monologue on Triggernometry this week, Kisin branded the trans debate 'quite possibly the most insane manifestation of woke ideology we've seen'. Credit: YouTube/ Reclaim The Media Former prime minister Liz Truss, meanwhile, has gone further, announcing plans to launch her own social media platform, claiming that the mainstream media and 'deep state' were stifling free speech. But while the proliferation of online media and influencers undoubtedly helped to catapult Trump into the White House, can these fringe figures exert as much influence in Britain? Media analyst Alex DeGroote points out that these UK personalities have a 'comparatively tiny' following compared to the likes of Joe Rogan, who has almost 20m subscribers on YouTube and pulls in 50m listeners per episode to his podcast. 'Their guests are a lot less high profile than Rogan, and he has also had the sponsorship of Spotify,' DeGroote adds. Research by the Reuters Institute last year revealed that established media brands such as the BBC and Sky still gain the most attention on social media in the UK and are more likely to be challenged on YouTube and TikTok by smaller upstarts like PoliticsJoe and LadBible than by influencers or personalities. Among individuals, the two most frequently mentioned accounts last year were those of LBC's James O'Brien and ITV political editor Robert Peston, suggesting that Britons still gravitate towards journalists at traditional media outlets. This trend underscores the continued power of Britain's public service broadcasting system. The latest industry survey by Ofcom showed that, while in decline, BBC One remains the country's most popular individual news source. At the same time, commercial outlets such as GB News and LBC have expanded further into opinion-led programming, while podcasts including The News Agents and The Rest is Politics have scooped up large audiences seeking news and current affairs in a less staid format. 'I think we're definitely seeing the same trends towards personality-led opinion because it's cheap and the algorithms really support it,' says Newman of the Reuters Institute. 'But it's just happening to a much smaller extent here because the news brands are much stronger.' There are cultural differences, too. In the US, many of these social media influencers are effectively cheerleaders for Trump. In Britain, by contrast, this new breed of alt-Right influencers espouse an incoherent array of beliefs, united by little beyond a tendency towards anti-government and anti-establishment viewpoints. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the tides are shifting. Having been the main source for news since the 1960s, TV has now been dethroned as Britons are just as likely to access information through online news sites and apps. And with a younger generation brought up on social media, this trend seems likely to continue. As a result, DeGroote argues that there is room in the UK media landscape for Right-wing personalities to escape their current niche and break out into the mainstream. 'The Rest is Politics and The News Agents are successful podcasts and clearly partisan on the Left wing,' he says. 'There is a gap in the market, but the offerings need to be more muscular to attract younger guys.' To date, UK politics has not suffered the same levels of polarisation as across the pond. But as debate rages on in key political battlegrounds such as immigration and trans rights, Britain's new breed of alt-Right influencers show no sign of quietening down. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The GB News rejects trying to conquer YouTube
After being sacked from GB News in what he branded 'one of the biggest MSM [mainstream media] beat-ups in history', Dan Wootton soon found a new home for his tirades: YouTube. 'We are increasingly becoming an authoritarian state where dissident voices are taken down by wholesale abuses of the political and legal system,' he declared in the first episode of his Outspoken show last year. Wootton, who claims his daily broadcast provides news and opinion with 'no spin, no bias and no censorship', is not alone in moving to the platform. He has been joined by a number of other former GB News presenters – as well as a wider group of alt-Right figures – attempting to wield power over Britain's Right through their own media ventures. It is a tactic that has enjoyed remarkable success in Trump's America. But as UK news outlets move ever further into opinion-led programming and maintain their hold over audiences, can this new breed of influencers repeat the trick here? Wootton, a New Zealand-born former senior editor at The Sun, now has more than 334,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, which is sponsored by anti-ageing supplements and an underwear brand. He also clips up excerpts of his show on TikTok. He is currently embroiled in a High Court case over allegations that he 'catfished' a former colleague and tricked them into sending explicit images by pretending to be a woman. Other GB News figures have followed suit. Laurence Fox and Calvin Robinson, who were also ousted from the broadcaster in the wake of sexist remarks made by Fox on Wootton's show, have established YouTube channel Reclaim The Media, which they describe as an 'antidote to our biased MSM'. After being ejected from the airwaves, these figures have joined a small but vocal group of online influencers attempting to influence Right-wing British politics. Carl Benjamin, who also uses the pseudonym Sargon of Akkad, has been a prominent figure on YouTube in recent years and in 2020 set up Lotus Eaters, which now hosts Robinson's Common Sense Crusade show. Triggernometry, a self-proclaimed free speech channel set up by comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, has racked up more than 1.3m subscribers, while more recently Reform has been attempting to boost its youth support base through 22-year-old activist and TikTok influencer Nicholas Lissack. In many ways, the shift online is a facsimile of the step change in US media, where the alt-Right has gained ground since Donald Trump's first administration. This has only accelerated with his second term in office as close ally Elon Musk has used his ownership of X to turn the social media platform into a Maga mouthpiece. Podcasters such as Joe Rogan played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the 2024 election, particularly by harnessing the support of young men. The influence exerted by these figures is now such that Tim Pool, a pro-Trump podcaster accused of taking money from Russia to promote Kremlin propaganda, was this week granted a question at a White House press briefing, even as established outlets such as the Associated Press have been excluded. Would-be British influencers are now trying to mimic the trend as they capitalise on what they view as dwindling trust in conventional media outlets. 'The appeal is the same as you're seeing in the US. It's this distrust of traditional media amongst a particular group of people,' says Nic Newman, at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 'And now the ability to listen to somebody who you identify with, whose view you share and is representing things that previously wouldn't have been seen on mainstream TV.' There are other motivations for moving online as audiences increasingly ditch traditional TV. Piers Morgan last year quit Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV to pursue his own show on YouTube, describing his nightly broadcast slot as a 'straitjacket'. But for the GB News rejects and other alt-Right figures, the move to social media reflects a desire to exert influence over the political right with viewpoints that would not be allowed on regulated broadcast TV. Wootton, who was also sacked as a columnist by the Daily Mail, frequently launches personal attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and his wife. He has criticised Farage's 'tack to the centre', suggesting he should take a harder line on Islam, and called for 'some kind of union' on the Right. On Reclaim The Media, Fox and Robinson similarly accused Farage of trying to 'appease' Islam, while branding the Reform leader the 'wokest politician in Westminster'. In a monologue on Triggernometry this week, Kisin branded the trans debate 'quite possibly the most insane manifestation of woke ideology we've seen'. Former prime minister Liz Truss, meanwhile, has gone further, announcing plans to launch her own social media platform, claiming that the mainstream media and 'deep state' were stifling free speech. But while the proliferation of online media and influencers undoubtedly helped to catapult Trump into the White House, can these fringe figures exert as much influence in Britain? Media analyst Alex DeGroote points out that these UK personalities have a 'comparatively tiny' following compared to the likes of Joe Rogan, who has almost 20m subscribers on YouTube and pulls in 50m listeners per episode to his podcast. 'Their guests are a lot less high profile than Rogan, and he has also had the sponsorship of Spotify,' DeGroote adds. Research by the Reuters Institute last year revealed that established media brands such as the BBC and Sky still gain the most attention on social media in the UK and are more likely to be challenged on YouTube and TikTok by smaller upstarts like PoliticsJoe and LadBible than by influencers or personalities. Among individuals, the two most frequently mentioned accounts last year were those of LBC's James O'Brien and ITV political editor Robert Peston, suggesting that Britons still gravitate towards journalists at traditional media outlets. This trend underscores the continued power of Britain's public service broadcasting system. The latest industry survey by Ofcom showed that, while in decline, BBC One remains the country's most popular individual news source. At the same time, commercial outlets such as GB News and LBC have expanded further into opinion-led programming, while podcasts including The News Agents and The Rest is Politics have scooped up large audiences seeking news and current affairs in a less staid format. 'I think we're definitely seeing the same trends towards personality-led opinion because it's cheap and the algorithms really support it,' says Newman of the Reuters Institute. 'But it's just happening to a much smaller extent here because the news brands are much stronger.' There are cultural differences, too. In the US, many of these social media influencers are effectively cheerleaders for Trump. In Britain, by contrast, this new breed of alt-Right influencers espouse an incoherent array of beliefs, united by little beyond a tendency towards anti-government and anti-establishment viewpoints. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the tides are shifting. Having been the main source for news since the 1960s, TV has now been dethroned as Britons are just as likely to access information through online news sites and apps. And with a younger generation brought up on social media, this trend seems likely to continue. As a result, DeGroote argues that there is room in the UK media landscape for Right-wing personalities to escape their current niche and break out into the mainstream. 'The Rest is Politics and The News Agents are successful podcasts and clearly partisan on the Left wing,' he says. 'There is a gap in the market, but the offerings need to be more muscular to attract younger guys.' To date, UK politics has not suffered the same levels of polarisation as across the pond. But as debate rages on in key political battlegrounds such as immigration and trans rights, Britain's new breed of alt-Right influencers show no sign of quietening down.
