Getty ImagesConservative Leign Kemi Badenoch said that “heads should roll” at the BBC, following reports that Panorama documentaries misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.
The Telegraph said it was spotted An internal memo suggests the program edited two parts of Trump’s speech together so it appears he clearly encouraged the Capitol Riots in January 2021.
Badenoch told GB News the edits were “absolutely shocking”, adding that director general Tim Davie should “identify who is changing the wrong information, and seize them”.
A BBC spokesman said: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and treats it positively.”
The one-hour program, Trump: a second chance?
In his speech in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, Trump said: “We will go to the Capitol and Congress and women.”
However, in Panorama’s edit, he was shown saying: “We’re going to walk to the Capitol … and I’m going to be with you. And we’re going to fight like hell.”
The two sections of the speech edited together are more than 50 minutes apart.
“Fight like hell” was taken from a section where President Trump talked about how “rotten” the US election was. In total, he used the words “fight” or “battle” 20 times in the speech.
After the President appeared to speak, the program played footage of men hanging men marching on the Capitol, the Telegraph said.
According to the leaked memo, this “creates the impression that President Trumper supports his ‘call to arms'”. But that footage was actually shot before the President started.
On 6 January 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, protesting the election victory of Joe Biden. Five people died related to the riot.
The House of Representatives accused Trump of inciting violence on false claims of election fraud, but he was acquitted of an impeachment charge that he provoked a mob at the Capitol.
According to the Telegraph, The document said the “distortion of the day’s events” would leave viewers asking: “Why is the BBC trustworthy, and where does it end?”
When the issue was raised with administrators, the memo continued, they “refused to accept there was a breach of standards”.
Speaking to GB News on Tuesday, Badenoch said: “That’s fake news, actually putting different things together to make it look different from what it is.
“And I think heads should roll. Whoever it is that’s making this child, that’s what Tim Davie should be doing, identifying who is spreading the wrong information, and bringing them to book.”
He continued: “The public should be able to trust our public broadcaster … they should not tell us things that are not true.
“This is a corporation that has to hold itself to the highest standards, and that means that when we see people doing the wrong thing, they have to be punished, they have to be put on hold.”
Former prime minister Boris Johnson also said the corporation must respond, Asked by X: “Will the BBC take responsibility – and resign?”
The Telegraph said the report it had obtained on BBC Bias was written by Michael Prescott, formerly an independent Editorial Standard and Broadcaster’s Editorial Committee. He left the role in June.
The newspaper said a whistleblower sent a copy of the 19-page Dossier to every member of the BBC board last month. BBC News has not seen a copy of the memo.
In its statement, the BBC said: “Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where different views and opinions on our coverage are often discussed and debated.”
BBC News has approached Mr Price for comment.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Nations, Media and Sport Committee has written to the Chairman of the BBC Samir to ask what is being done with the concerns raised in the memo.
Conservative MP Caroline Dinolage, Chairwoman of the Committee, said: “The BBC clearly has serious questions about the way senior management is handling it.
“The Committee must be reassured that those at the top of the BBC are treating the issues as they deserve and taking decisive steps to maintain integrity and public trust.”
Downing Street said that the Secretary Lisa Nandy and Senior Officials of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport received a copy of the issues that raised the issues that raised the issues.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “We take any criticism of the BBC’s editorial standards and we expect the BBC to consider any feedback they receive seriously and carefully.”
BBC Arabic Under Scrutiny
Meanwhile, the Telegraph also reported that Mr Price had raised concerns about a lack of action to address the “systemic problems” of Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
The paper said that BBC Arabic has placed some pro-Hamas and antisemolic commentators hundreds of times, and that the MR supercott found that a BBC News website was covering the conflict.
Mr Prescott said BBC Arabic’s treatment of one story “was designed to minimize Israeli suffering and paint Israel as the aggressor”, while allegations against Israel were “raced to air” without adequate checks, suggesting either carelessness or “a desire always to believe the worst about Israel”, the Telegraph reported.
In response, a BBC spokesperson said: “In relation to BBC News Arabic, where errors were made or errors occurred we were aware of them at the time and corrected.
“We have also recognized in the past that some contributors would not have been available and have improved our processes to avoid this happening again.”