The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion 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: "Whenever I journey 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 Emphasizes Editing Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser departed his role recently and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released 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 Issues
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
In response, the BBC said: "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."
