The chickens of institutional legacy media bias are at last coming home to roost. For far too long, they’ve been allowed to get away with lying, slandering and bending the truth beyond breaking-point. All in the service of the worst power.
Well, as a young man said to me, a few years back: “Trump is an asshole – but he’s the asshole we need right now.” Sometimes, indeed, to defeat bullies, you need a bigger bully on your side.
Donald Trump has demanded compensation and an immediate apology from the BBC after the corporation’s chairman admitted to “an error of judgement” by the flagship Panorama program which doctored the US president’s speech.
Mr Trump wrote to the BBC on Monday and the corporation confirmed receipt of the letter saying it would respond in due course.
Mr Trump’s legal team have demanded an immediate full and fair retraction, an immediate apology and an unspecified amount of “appropriate” compensation from the BBC.
If all of this is not forthcoming by Friday, the legal team said the president will initiate legal action for legal action for no less than $US1 billion ($1.5bn) in damages.
The legal team added: “The BBC is on notice”.
And giving not one sign that it’s learned a damn thing.
The BBC is in crisis with the resignations of its director general and head of news on Sunday following a litany of accusations about pro-Gaza, pro-trans activism and the anti-Trump bias.
But the BBC chairman Samir Shah insisted there was no institutional bias and that people should have a “sense of perspective and proportionality”.
On Monday Mr Shah apologised for the “error of judgement” made in the Panorama edit of Mr Trump’s speech in the lead up to the January 6 Capitol riots, but noted that the edit had been done to “convey the message” of Trump’s speech.
In fact, it twisted his speech to make up a completely opposite message. All Shah’s statement does is confirm that the BBC is so arrogantly deluded that it refuses contrition even when it’s been caught out blatantly lying.
As I wrote yesterday, the BBC getting caught in the act begs the question of just how badly the taxpayer-funded media behemoth in Australia was in lyin’ lockstep.
The ABC shares much in common with its British counterpart across the full spectrum of self-righteous causes, from Middle East politics to gender activism and a performative loathing of US President Donald Trump. The common theme is that agenda journalism has been allowed to sideline charter obligations and public duty for balance and objectivity. It is the malaise that comes from inept supervision and a workplace culture that allows ideologically minded staff collectives to call the shots […]
All of the issues complained about at the BBC deserve forensic examination at the ABC.
Hey @realDonaldTrump, if you want to sue the ABC, go for it. Their fake news “Story of the Century” report for Four Corners will give your legal team plenty of ammunition.
You wouldn’t be the first to successfully sue the ABC for defamation.
Last year, its managing director was forced to apologise to former commando Heston Russell and members of the 2nd Commando Regiment after extra gunshots were edited into a news report claiming to show an Australian soldier firing at unarmed civilians […]
The former commando, who successfully sued the broadcaster for defamation over separate stories that included allegations relating to the death of a prisoner in Afghanistan, said the ABC “tied ribbons around bad behaviour”.
Be our guest, Donald. Have at ’em.
