Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a portion of the talk where he urged 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.”
The press secretary continued: "Every time I travel 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 Memo Highlights Editing Issues
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The expert left his role earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released 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 Issues
The report reportedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One issue highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "captured 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 claimed that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness 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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
