Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
The spokesperson's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two parts of the oration together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted 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.”
Leavitt continued: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged 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 Emphasizes Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his role recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released read: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."
Allegations of Widespread Problems
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories raising complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
In answer, 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."
