Lecturer Reith accused the BBC of censoring US President Donald Trump’s comments on Tuesday after historian Rutger Bregman said the broadcaster removed a line from its Reith Lecture that was critical of Trump, a decision he believes was made at higher levels within the corporation.
Bregman, a Dutch author who delivered this year’s Reith Lectures, said the BBC removed its description of Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.”
He said he was told the editing came from “the highest levels within the BBC”.
In a statement, Bregman said: “I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture,” adding that the deleted line was part of a lecture “commissioned, reviewed throughout the editorial process and recorded four weeks ago in front of 500 people at the BBC Radio Theatre.”
The dispute comes as the BBC faces pressure from the White House. Trump has threatened a $5 billion (£3.8 billion) lawsuit over a Panorama edition of one of his speeches from the day of the Capitol riot, a controversy that led to the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness.
The BBC apologized for the editing but insists it did not defame Trump and is not seeking a settlement.
The corporation said it removed Bregman’s comment after receiving legal advice. The conference is broadcast on the BBC World Service, which is broadcast in the United States.
Bregman, who had previously warned of an “authoritarian advance” in the United States, said the edit was made “against my wishes” and left him “really shocked.” He said “fear-driven self-censorship (Trump threatening to sue the BBC) should worry us all,” and noted that the conference focused on what he called the “crippling cowardice” of elites.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said he was “really sad about this”, praising the team behind the lectures and highlighting the honor of following Bertrand Russell, who gave the first Reith Lectures in 1948.
Bregman gained attention in 2019 after challenging global elites on tax evasion at the World Economic Forum. His series, “Moral Revolution,” filmed in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and the United States, examines what he describes as the “moral decadence and lack of seriousness” of today’s elites. The first conference, broadcast on Tuesday, warned of a “broader resurgence of fascism across the Western world.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “All our programs must comply with BBC editorial guidelines and we made the decision to remove a sentence from the lecture on legal advice.”
(The UK Guardian)
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