【Text by Observer Net, Zhang Jingjuan】The century-old media giant, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which has long been embroiled in fraud scandals and whose credibility is already in jeopardy, has recently exposed a shocking scandal. This time, it has extended its hand to U.S. President Trump.

According to a独家 report by the UK's Daily Telegraph on the 3rd, a 19-page report written by a former member of the BBC Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) revealed that the "Panorama" program maliciously edited Trump's speech video, splicing together content separated by nearly an hour into a false statement that "incited the Capitol riot," even reversing the sequence of images to create a false cause-and-effect illusion, seriously misleading the audience.

The report stated that in the documentary "Trump: Back to Power?" aired on October 28 last year, the words Trump said to his supporters were: "We have to go down, I will be with you, we have to fight. We must fight hard, if you don't fight hard, you will never own this country again."

This fabricated statement was accompanied by ominous background music, followed by a clip of demonstrators waving flags and storming the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, aiming to create the impression that Trump's supporters responded to his "call for armed action."

This footage was actually shot before Trump's speech, but the documentary did not inform the audience in any way that the segment had been edited or the sequence was out of order throughout the entire program.

In fact, the BBC spliced three separate parts of Trump's speech into one seemingly coherent sentence.

Trump's original words were: "We have to go down, I will be with you, we have to go down, wherever you want to go, but I want to be here, we are going to the Capitol to cheer for our brave senators and representatives — although for some of them, we may not be too enthusiastic, because weakness cannot reclaim our country, you must show strength, you must be strong... I know everyone present will soon go to the Capitol Building to express your voice in a peaceful and patriotic way."

About 54 minutes later, when Trump spoke about "election fraud," he mentioned the voters on election day: "Most people will stand there at 9 p.m. and say thank you very much, then start a new life, but I said something is wrong here, really wrong, this can't happen, so we have to fight."

"We must fight hard, if you don't fight hard, you will never own this country again."

Trump giving a speech, screenshot from the BBC documentary

The report's author, Michael Prescott, a former independent external advisor to the BBC Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, considered this a shocking violation of the principle of impartiality.

After watching this episode, Prescott was shocked by its "clear anti-Trump stance." In this documentary, ten critics of Trump appeared, while only one supporter was shown.

Before his departure in June, Prescott expressed his concerns to the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, and the committee's senior editorial advisor, David Grossman, was asked to review the program.

After investigation, Grossman pointed out the worrying issues in the editing process.

However, facing Grossman's findings, the BBC management refused to admit that there was any violation of standards, instead further defending the "Panorama" program.

Prescott said that at a meeting of the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee on May 12, the BBC News Content Senior Director, Jonathan Munro, claimed, "We did not try to mislead the audience about the content or nature of Trump's speech before the Capitol riot. Editing the speech into short video clips is a common practice."

Prescott stated that at the meeting, neither the BBC's CEO nor the chairman made any comments on Munro's disregard for Grossman's investigation results, or on the defense provided by BBC News' Chief Executive, Deborah Turness, for the edited video clips.

Deeply concerned, Prescott sent a letter to the BBC Chairman the day after the meeting, stating, "This is an extremely dangerous precedent. I hope you can agree and take some action to ensure this potential major issue is addressed at its root," but received no response.

In September this year, Prescott sent the report to each member of the BBC Board, expressing disappointment with the institution's disregard for the issues related to the "Panorama" program. Subsequently, his letter flowed into the British government department.

Former UK Prime Minister Johnson (Boris Johnson) posted on social media, angrily condemning, "This is completely shameful. The BBC altered Trump's video clips to make him look like inciting the riot, but he never said such things. Our country's broadcasting company uses its flagship program to spread obvious lies against Britain's closest ally. Does anyone at the BBC want to take responsibility and resign?"

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of Trump, accused the BBC of dishonesty and spreading "fake news." He retweeted the Daily Telegraph's report and wrote, "These 'fake news' journalists in Britain are as dishonest and full of lies as those in America."

In response, the BBC only issued a statement saying that it would not comment, but would take feedback seriously.

The BBC was founded in 1922, and its operating funds mainly come from the license fee granted by the Royal Charter.

The report points out that this fabrication scandal comes at a critical moment for the BBC. The organization will face a Royal Charter renewal review in 2027, and is currently negotiating with the Culture Secretary Nandy (Lisa Nandy) on funding issues, and Nandy previously stated that "all options are not ruled out."

At regular intervals, the BBC reaches a Royal Charter agreement with the UK government. At the end of 2016, the BBC reached the latest version of the Royal Charter with the UK government, under which the annual license fee collected by the BBC will be set by the government, and will increase in line with inflation over five years from April 2017. This system will continue until the Royal Charter expires in late 2027.

Currently, the Conservative Party has demanded an immediate investigation into why the "Panorama" documentary was allowed to air.

This article is an exclusive work by Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7568701083728609830/

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