The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers 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 document leaked to a newspaper suggested that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“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.”
The press secretary added: "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 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 Document Highlights Production Problems
The publication reported its coverage was based on a memo written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
An extract published 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."
Allegations of Systemic Problems
The report reportedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have faulted 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 sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed 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."
"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."
