Media Revolution Has Arrived!

2022 has seen a much-needed media shift.

Hello all, I hope you have had an enjoyable Christmas with your loved ones. Time with family and friends is so important and to be cherished.

Thanks once again for all your support for Heaver News so far. Rest assured, I’m just getting started. It is vitally important that the voices of Brexiteers are heard. I aim to help that with this newsletter.

I still think Remainstream media hysteria sadly is getting even worse. The BBC Licence Fee is a total relic that the Conservatives are barmy not to have canned already.

But I am an optimist. And the growth of Heaver News alongside my YouTube Channel has been very encouraging, along with the success of other media alternatives.

You’ll notice many who slagged off GB News at launch have gone quiet. That’s because the channel is now actually doing pretty well.

Stuart Mitchell/@IncMonocle

I am a big believer in media plurality and people being given as much choice as possible. Those who oppose greater choice I always think are small-minded and obviously deeply insecure about their own intellect and philosophy. When it comes to media choice the more the merrier, I say.

If there was to be a Guardian TV channel for instance, I wouldn’t stamp my feet and bitch about it. I just wouldn’t watch it. You won’t see a new left-wing channel emerge by the way because there is no market opportunity. The BBC already covers the pathetically woke view of the world and this country.

That is why alternatives like GB News are so important, as a counter-balance to much of the televised dross put out nowadays obsessed with divisive woke hysteria.

Honestly, it is little wonder that recent research found a massive surge in the number of people in the UK who now actively avoid the news.

I may have missed them but I haven’t seen any journalists confront this fact: that the proportion of people now actively avoiding the news in the UK has surged from 24% to 46% in just five years, according to the Reuters Institute.

That percentage of news avoiders in this country is higher than anywhere other than Brazil. Higher than in America, France, Germany, Italy or Japan where only 14% avoid the news.

Reuters Institute @risj_oxford

An increasing % of people is avoiding the news 🙈 38% in our global sample say they often or sometimes avoid the news (up from 29% in 2017). The number of avoiders has doubled in 🇧🇷 (27% to 54%) and 🇬🇧 (24% to 46%) over five years. More figures by country in the chart below

I actually think some TV News has got so downbeat and depressing that it is actively damaging for people to constantly stayed glue to watching it.

That’s why nowadays I try and spend a lot more time exercising or working productively. I feel a hell of a lot better for it.

But GB News are shaking things up in a good way. Their coverage is actually positive about this country. And as I said, choice can only be a good thing.

After a rocky start, a Press Gazette report has revealed that GB News have now beaten Sky News for average prime time viewers.

Press Gazette @pressgazette

New: For the first time, GB News has beaten Sky News for average prime time viewers over the past month

pressgazette.co.ukGB News beat Sky News for prime time ratings over past monthFrom 22 November to 21 December, GB News managed an average 57,107 viewers in the evenings versus 52,230 for Sky News.

As they report:

“GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos told staff in a Christmas memo on Wednesday: ‘In just 18 months you have worked as a team to end Sky News’ undisputed 33-year reign as the most-watched commercial news channel in the United Kingdom.’”

That is a tremendous achievement that I believe shows the scale of demand for news done differently.

Hopefully the success of GB News and other alternatives continues. For sure I will keep plugging away with this newsletter of course, as well as my YouTube Channel.

This country needs media alternatives to challenge the dour big boys. Let’s hope we all keep growing in 2023.