Leftists like CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter feel terrible about two top executives at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) tendering their resignations over a really bad edit of Donald Trump’s speech to supporters on January 6, 2021. Those right-wingers are ruining things again by focusing on aggressive media mangling of the facts.
In a video on X, Stelter lamented that this edit shouldn’t have forced resignations, but the BBC “exists in an incredibly politically charged environment, even as it tries to be apolitical and impartial.” Wrong. Nobody believes they’re “trying” to be apolitical. They want to be perceived as impartial even as they’re extremely partial.
As Stelter notes, the BBC has faced relentless criticism over its relentless bias against Israel and in favor of Hamas in its reporting from Gaza.
In a vacuum, a more-than-a-year-old editing misstep by unnamed producers would not cause the very top heads of the BBC to roll. But... pic.twitter.com/en62ptNFCQ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 10, 2025
Last year, after a study found the BBC overwhelmingly favored Hamas spin after the attacks of October 7, BBC's Jeremy Bowen claimed “Searching for some kind of spurious balance is entirely wrong, the truth is the objective.” Bowen also said Hamas is a “good” source of information on Gaza casualty figures during a closed-doors “masterclass” on reporting war impartially -- their numbers are "pretty accurate" -- and objected to the word "terrorist" to describe Hamas.
In his "Reliable Sources" newsletter, Stelter employed a similar spin to his video: "the BBC is positioned as an apolitical brand, yet operates in a politically poisonous atmosphere." This is much like our domestic dispute over PBS and NPR. They pose as apolitical, but their content makes a mockery of the claim.
Stelter channeled the leftist tilt of BBC backers on social media [bold text in the original]:
"The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack," BBC veteran John Simpson wrote on X last night. He praised Davie and Turness and said, "We've now got a real fight on our hands to defend public service broadcasting, because that's under threat too."
Simpson, like other BBC staffers I know, co-signed Nick Robinson's framing: "It's clear that there is a genuine concern about editorial standards and mistakes. There is also a political campaign by people who want to destroy the organization… Both things are happening at the same time."
Stelter included the view from the right:
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss writes, "I'm glad the US President and the rest of the world are seeing the BBC for what it is. Its failure to tell the truth on everything from transgender ideology to economics to Gaza has done huge damage to politics and government in this country. This should be the end of nationalised broadcasting."
The lefties are also concerned about the re-evaluation of the BBC's license-fee system of funding "public" media. British households pay £174.50 ($230) a year for BBC shows and services, which leads to conservative complaints about involuntarily supporting anti-conservative media.
No one probably fears for the BBC under a Labour Party government, but the BBC's brand is definitely struggling, just like aggressive bias caused a funding problem for PBS and NPR.
