Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the talk where he advised 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 added: "Every time I travel 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 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 expert left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, believed 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."
Claims of Widespread Problems
The memo reportedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting 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 Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised 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 sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In answer, 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."
