Sam FrancisWANTED TO QUESTION
Still MediaThe UK reformer said it would no longer co-operate with a BBC documentary about the Party following a row over how a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited.
The BBC has commissioned an outside production company, October Films, to make the programme, which is due to air in January.
The company was involved in the panorama documentary about Trump that prompted a major row with the broadcaster, although it was not responsible for editing the speech, which was made by the BBC staff.
An internal Reform email seen by BBC News said the production firm had “conducted themselves professionally” on the project but advised members to decline to participate with filming going forward.
October Films was approached for comment, while the BBC said it does not comment on projects in-development.
The documentary is due to call for increased reform, and will be presented by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Its perpetrators were given “unprecedented access” to senior Party figures, the reform’s internal email said.
It is unclear whether the documentary would have gone ahead without the Party’s co-operation.
The email mentioned in the panorama editing of Trump’s speech from January 6, 2021 as “disinformation”, and said that a decision was made “in the documentary as a result.
It continued: “We want to make it clear that the October films have always conducted themselves professionally, and there is no suggestion from our side that they are a bad way to reform the UK.
“However, after the panorama documentary trust was lost, and both the BBC and the production company had to do a lot of hard work to regain trust.”
The email advised Party members to “strongly decline participation” when approached by the documentary team, and to withdraw footage that had already been used.
One of the subjects of the documentary, Kent County Council Leader Linden Kemkaran, said in a social post that he pointed out that “all consent was gathered.
The BBC is behind the intense scrutiny of a panorama documentary, titled Trump: a second chance?
An edit included in the documentary combined parts of a speech made by Trump on January 6, 2021 in such a way that it clearly encouraged people to attack the US Capitol.
In his speech in Washington DC, Trump said: “We will go to the Capitol, and we will be happy for our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
However, in the panorama edit he is shown saying: “We will walk to the Capitol … and I will be there with you. And we will fight like hell.”
The two sections of the speech were delivered nearly an hour apart – with “fight like hell” discussing how Trump will “Corruth” the US elections.
In total, he used the words “fight” or “fight” 20 times.
The documentary aired last year but came to light this month after a leaked internal BBC memo raised concerns about the editing. Published in the telegraph newspaper.
The memo was written by Michael Prescott, an external editorial adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Committee. It said Panorama had produced a “distortion of the day’s events” that would leave viewers asking: “Why can the BBC be trusted?”
The fallout from the emergence of the Memo brought BBC Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Debah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Rebah Regancess Rounding from their positions.
Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1BN (£760m) unless he receives a full retraction, apology and compensation.
On Monday, BBC Chair Samir Shah apologized for an “error in judgement” in the documentary.
