The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster 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 newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he urged the assembly "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.”
Leavitt 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."
Disclosed Document Highlights Production Problems
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
An extract 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 noted that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised 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 gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
In answer, 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."
