The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure 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 claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The programme depicted the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the speech where he urged the crowd "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.”
The press secretary continued: "Every time 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 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."
Leaked Document Highlights Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.
A passage 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 Systemic Problems
The report reportedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the author asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating the network had been "influenced 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 claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
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."
