The journalist Dan Wootton is to establish his own “independent platform” after his GB News show was found to be in breach of Ofcom’s programming code.
Wootton, who was suspended by GB News after he let misogynistic comments by the political activist Laurence Fox go unchallenged, has now been let go by the right of centre opinion channel.
In a statement on X, Wootton hit out at the regulator: “I have left GB News to launch my own independent platform Dan Wootton Outspoken which will feature a brand new daily news and opinion show from later this year that will NOT be regulated by the Ofcommunist censors.
“Free speech in Britain is in peril!”
I have left GB News to launch my own independent platform Dan Wootton Outspoken which will feature a brand new daily news and opinion show from later this year that will NOT be regulated by the Ofcommunist censors.
Free speech in Britain is in peril!https://t.co/pK01nT85iN pic.twitter.com/m4VY6fiVbs— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) March 5, 2024
He described Ofcom as “a muzzle that bows to the woke mob” and called for the regulator to be reined in by the “supposedly Conservative” government.
Some observers would argue that Ofcom has not done enough to control GB News that often features Conservative MPs interviewing cabinet ministers. However, in its report on the 26 September 2023 edition of Dan Wootton Tonight, Ofcom said Wootton’s reaction to Fox’s comments “exacerbated the potential for offence”.
Wootton has set-up a platform on Substack which offers “Group Zoom Calls with Dan” for an annual £50. The Founding Member tier, at £150, gets the subscriber a personalised video message from Wootton.
A welcome letter emailed to subscribers says: “I understand how difficult these times are, however, following cancellation in the mainstream media, this is my new job and I have ambitious plans to build Unspoken into a major new free speech brand.
In order to do that, I need your support, especially so that I am able to travel to cover the news the establishment is ignoring.”
Before joining GB News, Wootton was previously the showbiz editor of the News of the World newspaper and a showbiz correspondent for ITV.
Broadband TV News has contacted Ofcom for comment.
