The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments came after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the oration together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the talk where he advised the crowd "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“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 continued: "Every time I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins 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 Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser left his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, 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 reportedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Issues Coverage
The lengthy file is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
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."
