Donald Trump's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's statements emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the oration together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised 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: "Whenever 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."
Leaked Document Highlights Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The expert departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.
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 Problems
The memo reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Topics Coverage
The lengthy file is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying 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 reported to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Reply
In response, the BBC said: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully."
"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."
