The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC news reports 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 statements emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the talk 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 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 Memo Highlights Editing Problems
The publication reported its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his position recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
A passage published stated: "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 Widespread Issues
The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser asserted 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 primary BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In response, the BBC said: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"The former adviser 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."
