“Plain Wrong”: Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV Publicly Apologizes to Mental Health Charity for False Claims About Asylum Seekers’ Legal Costs

TalkTV was forced to publicly apologize to the charity Mind after claiming on the air that it was funding the legal costs of asylum seekers.

On June 10, host Mike Graham revealed in his “Mike Graham’s Independent Republic” program that the charity claimed to be funding mental health support when in fact it was paying the immigrant legal bills.

Mind complained that the claims were “simply wrong” and that the channel never reached out to the charity for comment.

TalkTV, owned by Rupert Murdoch, apologized on the air Friday, admitting it made a mistake in asking “why multiple organizations, including Mind, were funding a charity called Migrants Organise.”

It said: “The mind told us that the money given to the migrant organization was for specific work in support of mental health, not legal fees for illegal immigrants. He says he is transparent about the work he does and the details of the projects he funds are on his website. “

Mind said she received negative messages about her work when the article first aired, only discovering the false claims when supporters reported her work.

“What TalkTV got it wrong is that we work with refugees, but how do we do it. Our work aims to support mental health. We are shouting it from the rooftops, ”the charity said.

TalkTV added in its apology: “We did not offer Mind the opportunity to respond and now we are happy to do so. We apologize for any confusion caused by the discussion about the show.”

The new anti-right channel, with its main program hosted by Piers Morgan and broadcast in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, has struggled to find a national audience since its debut. Much interest in possible changes or even considering a merger with GB News based on a year of similar talks.