Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the speech where he urged 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 added: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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."
Disclosed Memo Emphasizes Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his role recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a insider.
A passage released 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 Issues
The report allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating 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 "decline 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 "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Response
In response, the BBC said: "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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
