Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“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 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."
Disclosed Memo Emphasizes Editing Problems
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The report allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One issue pointed out was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Reply
In response, the BBC stated: "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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
