【Text by Observer Net, Xiong Chaoran】The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which has long been known for its "pervasive fake news," is once again in trouble. After the British media was involved in an editing scandal that led to the resignation of two senior executives, US President Trump still did not give up, threatening legal action.

According to reports from CNN, The Washington Post and other outlets on November 10, Trump intensified his pressure, sending a strongly worded legal letter to the BBC, accusing it of making misleading edits in a documentary about his re-election campaign filmed a year ago, and demanding at least $1 billion in damages.

"The BBC intentionally and deceptively edited its documentary, attempting to interfere with the presidential election, thereby defaming the President of the United States. President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who spread lies, frauds, and fake news," said Alejandro Brito, Trump's private lawyer, in the letter.

In the letter, he asked the BBC to retract the so-called "false, defamatory, derogatory, and inciting" statements about Trump, and warned that if no action was taken by the end of local time on November 14, Trump would sue the BBC and claim "no less than" $1 billion in damages.

In response, the BBC said in a statement to The Washington Post: "We will review this letter and respond directly when appropriate."

Trump speaking, screenshot from BBC documentary

For a long time, as a so-called "century media giant," the BBC has repeatedly fallen into scandals of fabrication, and its credibility has already been in jeopardy. Although these are not new events, the recent shocking scandal has now drawn the attention of US President Trump.

On November 3, the UK's Daily Telegraph exclusively reported that 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 content nearly an hour apart into a false line of "inciting the Capitol riot," even reversing the sequence of images to create a false cause-effect illusion, seriously misleading the audience.

The report 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.

Facing pressure from members of parliament and critics in the White House, on the afternoon of November 9, BBC's CEO Tim Davie and the Chief Executive Officer of the News Division Deborah Turness resigned in disgrace.

Davie wrote in a memo to employees on the day of his resignation: "Although this is not the only reason, the current controversy surrounding BBC News has undoubtedly contributed to my decision." Turness wrote in a memo to employees: "The ongoing controversy surrounding the coverage of President Trump on the Panorama program has reached a point where it is damaging the BBC - an institution I deeply love."

Tim Davie (right) and Deborah Turness, photo

According to BBC, on November 10, regarding the accusation that the BBC documentary misled the public through editing Trump's speech, BBC chairman Samir Shah apologized and called it a "judgment error."

Additionally, when asked whether Trump would sue the BBC as he had done with American media before, Shah replied, "I don't know yet. But he likes to go to court. So we should be prepared for all possible outcomes."

The Washington Post pointed out that Trump has previously sued several news organizations in the United States, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, he has also sued ABC and CBS, and received substantial compensation.

Abigail Jackson, White House Deputy Press Secretary, wrote in a statement to The Washington Post: "Due to deceptive editing, misleading reporting, and outright lies, public trust in the media has fallen to an all-time low. This is another example that highlights why countless Americans have turned to other media for news."

"The top executives of the BBC, including my boss Tim Davie, have resigned or been fired because they were found to have tampered with my (January 6, 2021) brilliant and perfect (excellent) speech," Trump wrote on November 9 on social media: "Thank you to the Daily Telegraph for exposing these corrupt 'journalists.' They are very dishonest and tried to interfere with the presidential election. Worse still, they come from abroad, a country regarded by many as our number one ally. This is really terrible for democracy!"

Meanwhile, in the UK, the leader of the opposition party, the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, wrote to Prime Minister Starmer, demanding him to condemn Trump's attacks on the BBC.

Davey also "protected his own" by saying: "It should not be foreign forces that decide where the British people get their news. The BBC belongs to Britain, not to Trump. We must jointly defend it."

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

The Daily Telegraph pointed out that this fabrication scandal comes at a critical moment for the BBC, as the organization will face a Royal Charter renewal review in 2027 and is currently negotiating funding issues with Culture Minister Nandy, who previously stated, "All options are not excluded."

This article is an exclusive article by Observer Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7571249172515455531/

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