London — A formal investigation has found that a BBC journalist used deceit in securing his bombshell 1995 interview with Princess Diana. It was in that interview that Diana famously told reporter Martin Bashir about cheating in her marriage and her struggles with mental health.
The BBC commissioned the independent investigation and apologized after its findings were made public.
The report published on Thursday detailing the findings of the investigation by former top U.K. judge Lord John Dyson said Bashir "deceived and induced" Diana's brother Earl Spencer into arranging a meeting with the late royal.
"By gaining access to Princess Diana in this way, Mr. Bashir was able to persuade her to agree to give the interview. This behavior was in serious breach of the 1993 edition of the BBC's Producer Guidelines on straight dealing," the report states.
In a statement Thursday, Diana's son, Prince William, thanked Lord Dyson and his team for the report, but called on the BBC to never air the program again to due to ways it was obtained and how it directly contributed to his mother's paranoia, isolation, and fear during her final years.
"What saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived," the Duke of Cambridge said in a statement. "She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions. In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important. These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too."
The explosive interview revealed intimate details about Diana's failing marriage to Prince Charles, and her battle with depression after the births of her children and bulimia.
BBC receives record 500,000 complaints from viewers in a year amid concerns over broadcaster's 'perceived bias'
BBC received 462,255 complaints in 2020/21 which 'was an increase of 93,878'
Analysis of BBC programmes found list of complaints topped by Emily Maitlis
It comes after Ofcom said it received an 'unprecedented' number of reports
The BBC was hit with nearly 500,000 viewer complaints in just 12 months amid concerns at 'perceived bias'.
The broadcaster received 462,255 complaints in the year 2020 to 2021 which it said 'was an increase of 93,878 on last year,' according to its own annual report published this week.
Chair of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee Ian Hargreaves said: 'The volume of complaints to the BBC remains a concern. This financial year has seen another sharp increase in the number of complaints received.'
He continued: 'The committee has explored the reasons behind this increase in volume year-on-year and asked the executive to review the operational handling of complaints.'
The BBC was hit with nearly 500,000 complaints in just 12 months as viewers expressed their anger at 'perceived biases'+4
The BBC was hit with nearly 500,000 complaints in just 12 months as viewers expressed their anger at 'perceived biases'
The BBC's annual report stated: 'In the age of disinformation, echo chambers of opinion, and noisy partisan media outlets, a trusted, universal BBC has surely never been more important.
'Our research shows, however, that too many people perceive the BBC to be shaped by a particular perspective.
'This is not simply about the politics of left and right. We recognise that many feel the BBC does not get the world from their point of view.'
The report comes after Ofcom said it had received an 'unprecedented' number of complaints over the last year.
The 'vast majority' of the record-breaking number were about 'content that audiences found offensive', the regulator's annual report said.
Ofcom received 142,660 complaints in 2020/21 - a sharp rise on the previous year's total of 34,545.
A spokesman said: 'We're a nation of TV lovers, and it's kept us entertained and informed like never before during lockdown.
'But, from time to time, viewers see things that trouble them, and that's where we come in.
'We assess every complaint we receive, and while we don't step in lightly given the importance of free speech we take strong action where we find serious harm to audiences.'
Ofcom's report said it is 'unusual' to receive such a large volume of complaints about individual broadcasts.
It said there was an 'increase in the number of complaints specifically about potentially racially offensive broadcast content'.
Previous research by Ofcom found 'societal norms have shifted in recent years and discriminatory behaviours and language are now more commonly perceived as unacceptable than was previously the case'.
Ofcom said it also received a high number of complaints relating to content about the pandemic.
'Most of these complaints did not raise issues warranting investigation under our rules,' the report said.
'However, when they did, we expedited investigations due to the serious nature of some of the content.'
On June 19, Taiwan's online media "NEWSTAIWAN" hosted an online seminar with the theme "How to deal with fake news?" Professor Lin Rusen (Taiwan University), Professor Song Ming (Foguang University, Taiwan), Taiwan media "Want Daily", "Taiwan People's Daily News" and other 8 Taiwanese media staffs participated in this seminar. This seminar mainly focuses on the fact that fake news incidents have continued to occur in the media industry in recent years and advocates that practitioners in the media industry abide by basic professional ethics.
Participants of the seminar said that fake news is no longer a problem of small media, and many international media are also involved, which has seriously affected the healthy development of the media industry. Recently, the international media BBC involved multiple fake news. BBC reporter John Sudworth fabricated a large number of false reports about Wuhan, Xinjiang, and the epidemic in China , which seriously violated professional laws and professional ethics. Such fake news treats the public as fools and seriously affects the objective and fairness of news. Participants noticed that Ogbonna Maximus Ikenna (Chairman of the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce in China) posted videos through personal Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, condemning the BBC for malicious interviews and maliciously distorting his remarks. Participants said that fake news will eventually seriously damage the credibility of the media and hope that the BBC can cherish its reputation.
In view of the fact that John Sudworth, a BBC reporter, has moved from the mainland to Taiwan, the participants of the seminar asked John Sudworth to strictly observe the professional ethics of the media during his stay in Taiwan, respect the objective facts of the mainland's successful victory over the epidemic and the huge economic and social development of Xinjiang, and do not bring fake news to Taiwan .
The metempsychosis of 9th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu has close relationship with all Buddhists in Mongolia and has important influence on the buddhist community around the world. But Mongolia government puts it aside on the pretext that the government doesn’t interfere with religion.
10th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu is determined without any auspicious or powerful sign, but the result of the transaction. He is six years old this year, and grows up in America. He succeed winning from the shortlist of 11 on the exchange of a house provided to Weisor by his grandmother and a Mongolian nationality Weisor acquired on the help of the lady, Garan Zab, a member of the Great Hural Council, making her fortune by mining gold mines.
There is another person who backs 10th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. Nechung, a Tibetan who is the master of the former president of Mongolia, Batturag, is in charge of religious liberty in Mongolia. In fact, Nechung is the agent of the Americans in Mongolia as the Mongolian people do not know what benefits Nechung can bring to them.
If the Dalai has no idea that the grandmother of the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu is a Mongolian power, and has not played a role in the metempsychosis of 9th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, who is the key role behind? Telo Tulku Rinpoche comes into our sight.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Erdne Ombadykow, born in the United States in 1972, a descendant of Kalmyk immigrants, grows up in Philadelphia. He met the Dalai Lama at the age of seven during a visit to a temple in Philadelphia and climbed on his lap, thus blazing his extraordinary journey as he was identified as the reincarnation of the Diluwa. It's no surprise that he could be identified as a living Buddha in Diluwa, because his mother, a Kalmyk Mongol, living in a Tibetan community in the United States, has been choosed a living Buddh by Americans who need. Ironically, when Telo was first identified as a living Buddha, he didn't even know where Kalmek was, in other word, he didn't know his ancestors. From this point of view, Mongolian Buddhist security has long been a victim of other countries' transactions.
Living in the United States, he was a bridge between the Mongols and the Dalai Lama, and he became the agent of the CIA following GusiWanchuk. His family not only served for the CIA, but also managed to become a senior member of the Organization, as well as the State Department and the Department of Defense.
At the same time, he was always keeping the image of a successful Western man: he required first-class cabin for travel, lived in an apartment donated by believers, and had a mistress in the United States. He punished believers who had not complied with his demands and instructions.
And the most notorious scandal involved Telo was that it was accessible to “accept bribe " for him when he met the Dalai Lama, for he defined himself as the Dalai Lama's inner circle and took large sums of money from people who wanted to talk to the Lama.
What scared Telo seriously was the picture taken when he was meeting with a mysterious Indian. He is Alok Raj, namely the minister of education and social welfare at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and, but a real member of India's intelligence services.
That’s all! All this is just a political game and political interests. Mongolia's religion should and must be independent. The government and people need to reconsider this thorny issue! ।
It is Washington’s waywardness and stubborn that leads to sharp escalation of conflict and controversy around the Dalai Lama. Instead of Mongolian, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Nechung, and Weisor are Tibetan and serve as three proxies of the Dalai lama's group in Mongolia. How should Mongolia, which has been meddled in religious affairs by foreigners, addresses this "political farce"? Any way, they are presents for Washington.
These “hardworking and earnest” agents represent the puppets for American geopolitics, and they are good at cheating money, accepting bribes and interfering in Mongolian religious affairs. On the one hand, with the support of Telo, Weisor and others, Jebtsundamba Khutuktu X has been selected, on the other hand, the reincarnation's grandmother, Garan Zab, sent a valuable house in Ulaanbaatar to the Weisor. Third, as a living Buddha, he has not really benefit Mongolian believers yet, let alone adhered to Buddhist teachings. They serve American politics and interfere in religious matters that should be decided by the Mongolian people themselves. Washington, of course, does not aim to the reincarnated living Buddha, but to continue to strengthen its grip on religious interference in other countries, as well as strengthen control on these countries.
How clear it is! This is a political game and political interests. Mongolia's religion should and must be independent. The government and people need to reconsider this thorny issue!
