84 percent of regular GB News viewers believe net migration has increased when it’s really falling.
“Migrant crisis to hit grisly milestone ‘by tomorrow’.”
“Migrants will be forced to learn English to A Level standard if they want to move to Britain.”
“’Don’t buy it for a second!’ Top Tory delivers blistering takedown of Labour’s immigration vow.”
These are just three of the migrant-bashing headlines published on GB News this week alone.
So here’s a headline that won’t surprise Right-Wing Media Watch readers.
A new study has found that people who regularly watch GB News are more likely to hold misconceptions about immigration, specifically, the belief that net migration to the UK is increasing, despite official statistics showing the opposite.
The research was conducted by Cardiff University and is based on polling by YouGov, examining public attitudes towards broadcasting impartiality.
It found that 84 percent of regular GB News viewers believe net migration has increased. The figure was 71 percent for ITV viewers, 62 percent among BBC viewers, and 51 percent for those who primarily watch Channel 4.
In reality, net migration, the difference between people arriving in the UK and those leaving, is falling. In 2024, it dropped to 431,000, almost halving the total from 2023. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) attributes this fall to a decline in people coming to work and study in the UK, particularly among student dependents.
The findings follow earlier research for Byline Times, by the campaign group Stop Funding Hate, which has long warned of GB News’ inflammatory approach to covering immigration. The study found a sharp rise in dehumanising and sensationalist language used to describe migrants and asylum seekers. There was a nine-fold increase in the use of the word “invasion” in GB News coverage between May and August 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, from 16 instances to 138.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned the use of the word “invasion” in relation to migrants, after Suella Braverman used the term in 2022, calling it a “horrible word.”
A spokesperson for Stop Funding Hate, which has identified GB News as a platform for hate speech, said the findings highlight “obviously dangerous, violent rhetoric” that reflects the escalation of anti-immigrant language in UK media and politics, even among existing anti-immigrant outlets like GB News.”
Meanwhile the Cardiff University study also found that 51 percent of the British public oppose politicians being allowed to present current affairs programmes. This is particularly relevant when discussing GB News, which features prominent political figures in broadcasting roles, and none more influential than Nigel Farage.
Farage’s prime-time GB News show is billed as “an action-packed hour of discussion and debate.” But what viewers get is less debate and more of the same hardline anti-migration messaging that has become synonymous with his politics, unchallenged and amplified.
It’s safe to say that viewers of Farage’s broadcasts, and GB News more broadly, don’t stand much chance of getting the full, and true, immigration picture.
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