BBC apologists are a sorry bunch

I SEEM to have spent most of my week trying to get apologists for the BBC and its shamed Panorama programme to use the correct language.

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The breathtakingly dishonest editing of Donald Trump’s Washington speech was not a “mistake”, as so many keep claiming. It was a deliberate, calculated falsehood.

All journalists make mistakes. I've made more than a few in my 53 years in newspapers, radio and television. I’ve yet to meet a hack who hasn't. But I’ve never lied to my readers, listeners or viewers. And Panorama lied.

So, we learned on Thursday, did BBC2’s Newsnight. They pulled the almost identical stunt in 2022 that Panorama would repeat in 2024, deliberately splicing exactly the same widely separated parts of Trump's speech to make it look as if he had explicitly called on his supporters to riot. The pattern of deception could not be clearer. These were not random errors. They prove deliberate and abiding intent to lie.