The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments came after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "to express views calmly and loyally".
“This intentionally deceptive, carefully cut footage from the BBC further proves they are entirely, 100% fake news, unworthy of airtime on the screens of the UK's admirable citizens.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their overt 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."
Leaked Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a note written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The 19-page file is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
In response, the BBC stated: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully."
"Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
