LONDON — The Russian Embassy in London joined in with Donald Trump’s assaults on the BBC Tuesday, branding Britain’s embattled public service broadcaster a “propaganda and disinformation device” filled with “ideological dogma.”
The criticism from Moscow follows the U.S. President’s menace to sue the BBC for $1 billion over its enhancing of a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021, throughout a Panorama documentary broadcast days earlier than the 2024 presidential election. The row over the documentary has price the BBC is high government, Tim Davie, and its most senior newsperson, Deborah Turness, who each resigned Sunday night time.
Writing on Telegram, the Russian Embassy leapt on the row, saying the BBC was “nothing greater than a propaganda and disinformation device.
“Its journalists choose and manipulate information, in addition to censor data that doesn’t align with their partisan editorial stance.”
The company has come beneath fireplace after a leaked inside memo alleged bias in its protection, which is meant to stay neutral, of the U.S. president, the Center East, and transgender points. The U.S. president’s legal professionals have given the company till Friday to “retract” any “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” about him.
Russia’s London outpost on Tuesday accused the BBC of “systemic flaws … the place ideological dogma has changed journalistic ethics” and claimed it had overseen years of “biased reporting” and “double requirements” in editorial coverage.
“The company has turn into a platform for Russophobia and extremism,” the Telegram publish mentioned.
British Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy will give a press release on Tuesday afternoon concerning the controversy, in addition to the company’s future funding mannequin, a reside query because it enters its ten-yearly constitution renewal course of, which units the BBC’s remit.
In a name with BBC employees Tuesday, reported by the Guardian, outgoing BBC Director-Common Tim Davie — who has acknowledged failings over the Panorama documentary — hit again at exterior critics of the group.
“These instances are troublesome for the BBC however we are going to get by it,” he reportedly mentioned.
“We’ll get by it and we are going to thrive. This narrative won’t simply be given by our enemies. It’s our narrative. We personal issues.”
He added: “I see the free press beneath stress. I see the weaponization. I believe now we have to battle for our journalism. We’ve made some errors which have price us however we have to battle for that.”
This story has been up to date with additional reporting.