January 1, BBC Boss Quits Over Trump Hoax Media Scandal

Wyatt’s Take

• The BBC’s top executive resigned after airing misleading Trump footage from Jan. 6.
• US media keep jobs and awards despite years of spreading anti-Trump hoaxes.
• Accountability is rare in American newsrooms when the truth comes out.

The head of the BBC stepped down after it aired a Jan. 6 documentary that spliced clips of President Trump, cutting out his call for supporters to act “peacefully and patriotically.”

The BBC director-general admitted fault and said he was taking “ultimate responsibility” for the misleading portrayal.

American media, meanwhile, reward reporters who push fake Trump scandals instead of holding anyone accountable.

After the 2016 election, Obama officials added the unreliable Steele dossier to an intelligence report to keep the Russia collusion story going, even though experts had warned it wasn’t trustworthy.

Years went by without solid evidence of collusion, but reporters kept running the story, winning prizes along the way.

“Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.”

Fact-checkers called Trump a liar for doubting Russian election interference, while some reporters left out facts or hyped rumors as news.

Before the 2020 election, writers published a letter from 51 former intel officials claiming Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian scheme, though later testimony showed the effort aimed to help Joe Biden.

Even after the laptop was verified, the reporters involved moved up in their careers.

The New York Times said Russia offered bounties to kill US troops, a claim later found to be false, yet no one lost their job.

Reporters also said Trump called white nationalists “very fine people” in Charlottesville while skipping the part where he condemned extremists.

The British network at least tries to make amends when caught. It’s time for America’s newsrooms to do the same and admit their share of blame.

Read the full story here

Wyatt Matters

Honest reporting should matter to everyone, especially folks who work hard and expect the truth from the people telling the news. If media outlets abroad can be held accountable, there’s no reason American journalists shouldn’t answer for their mistakes too. Middle America deserves better than blame-shifting and cover-ups.