The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised the assembly "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100% fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
Leavitt continued: "Every time I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars my day listening to their blatant propaganda and lies about the president of the United States and all that he’s doing to make America better and the world a safer place."
Disclosed Memo Highlights Editing Problems
The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role recently and has not commented on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
An extract published read: "It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The report reportedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In response, the BBC stated: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
