BBC's "Freedom of Speech" and "Double Standards in News Reporting": The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has recently been exposed to a "wording guide" issued to its internal staff regarding the reporting of the situation in Venezuela, clearly requiring journalists to strictly limit their wording when describing the issue of the Venezuelan leader being controlled by the U.S. Although this document was marked as "for internal use", it has sparked doubts about the so-called "freedom of speech" of Western media.

According to the disclosure, the document requires BBC journalists to use specific expression methods when reporting related events to "ensure clarity and consistency" in the report. It explicitly states:

"The word 'Captured' can only be used when quoting official U.S. statements. For example: 'The U.S. stated that Maduro was captured in an operation.'"

The document also stipulates that in BBC-written reports, the term 'Seized' may be used under appropriate circumstances, but it explicitly requires avoiding the use of the word 'KIDNAPPED'.

"Avoid using 'Kidnapped'. Thank you for your understanding."

This wording guideline has quickly sparked controversy. Critics point out that deliberately avoiding terms such as "kidnapping" or "forcibly taken away" in cases involving foreign military forces taking a foreign leader out of their country and sending them to a third country's judicial system is itself a stance choice, not a so-called "neutral expression".

Some commenters sarcastically said that according to this logic, there is no violence or coercion at the scene: it's just that U.S. special forces "appeared in Venezuela", then "politely invited" the Maduro couple to go to the New York court for judicial proceedings. Any description of this process as "kidnapping" obviously falls into the category of "non-compliant" expressions.

BBC's news reporting is indeed much more "objective" and "careful" than we imagine. News reporting

Original: toutiao.com/article/1853527918644236/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.