17 November 2025

In my last charge, we made a number of films about different aspects of parish and Presbytery life. In these films, people were interviewed. In order not to manipulate what people said, I instructed the interviewer and photographer to ask everyone exactly the same questions.

This meant that when the inevitable splicing took place and bits of interviews were joined together, the various comments used  were consistent with  the questions asked. I discovered that it was very easy to cut and divide and create misinformation.

The splicing of Donald Trump’s speech prior to the riots on Capitol Hill which were made by the BBC Panorama crew has caused much controversy. Clearly, the lack of context has created the impression that Trump was inciting the crowd to attack the Capitol.

The BBC has acknowledged its error and made its apology. Who knows whether or not this will be sufficient to avert a court case in which Trump carries out his threat to sue the BBC for five billion dollars. Certain questions remain unanswered.

The spliced speech may have lacked integrity but it remains unclear whether or not Trump was guilty of encouraging his supporters to riot. Equally well, it is surprising that this splicing and dicing should have gone unnoticed for so many  years.

The desire of the President to  damage the world’s most trusted news agency whilst  upholding the special relationship with the United Kingdom and seeking peace in the world’s most complex troubled spots in which fake news is rife  is bizarre. The apology has been given. Its acceptance is due. Time to move on together and keep the  peace.

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