Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments came after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The broadcast depicted the leader 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 omitted a portion of the talk where he advised the crowd "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 journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged 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 Memo Emphasizes Production Issues
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his position earlier this year and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage published 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 Issues
The report reportedly noted that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Trans Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the network 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 claimed that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, the BBC said: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"The former adviser 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."
