The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
The spokesperson's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report disclosed to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "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: "Every time 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 Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert left his role recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released read: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."
Allegations of Systemic Issues
The memo allegedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries 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 top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also said 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 claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, the BBC stated: "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."
