🔗 Share this article

The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes allegations of bias at the network.

White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage

The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Address

Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document disclosed to a publication suggested that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the oration together.

The broadcast depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the talk 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.”

The press secretary continued: "Every time I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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."

Leaked Memo Emphasizes Editing Problems

The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a insider.

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 memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The newspaper said the author asserted 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 website.

One issue highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Criticism of Transgender Issues Coverage

The lengthy file is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is said to have alleged that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".

BBC Reply

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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."