The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section 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 added: "Whenever I journey 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 Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a memo authored by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert left his position recently and has not spoken on the document, 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."
Allegations of Systemic Problems
The memo reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating the broadcaster had been "captured 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 claimed that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Response
In response, the BBC stated: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully."
"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."
