BBC focuses on political gaffs

Derek Smith
Ds599012@ohio.edu

Hillary Clinton has finally gotten the spotlight from Trump this week at the BBC. Starting this weekend after her pneumonia scare and subsequent recovery, and carrying on until today after several Trump issues grabbed their attention again. Trump’s coverage since the weekend has been largely negative, focusing on several incidents that were slightly embarrassing for the candidate.

The BBC has been pouring out content since the weekend, starting with her comments about Trump supporters, going into her health scare, into Trump’s awkward speech in Flint, and finally Colin Powell’s leaked email’s making its way to the media.

Colin Powell’s emails will most likely haunt Trump for some time as there is supposedly more to come, but right now Trump’s event is the topic of the day at the BBC, even earning its way to the front page of the website. This has also sparked some negative pieces concerning Trump’s chances with black voters come the election. Which doesn’t bode well for Trump’s campaign team as his recent ‘Super-Trump’ ad has been their fun social media piece, where New Yorkers mostly negative toward the ad.

Trump's latest add in New York. Via New York Post

Even worse, one of the republican old guard Colin Powell’s private thoughts regarding Trump are now public. The BBC’s headline, “Colin Powell calls Trump 'national disgrace' in email leak” doesn’t bode well for Trump in the days to come.

Clinton coverage looked the same this week with analyst wondering the impact her health scare would have on her electability. Lucky for her the focus at the BBC has shifted away from the Clinton Foundation’s scandal to the Trump Foundation’s.

  BBC reporters covering the election seem to be heavily concentrated in New York City, which means an investigation by the state of New York will get more coverage that Trump may want. Whatever may come of the investigation, the longer this is drug out the more he has to defend, which often doesn’t turn out ideally for him.

The Russian political hacks have left both candidates on the defense for different reasons, but worse for Trump his ties to Putin are in question. Putin is not a popular figure in British media, so it’s not a surprise that ties to him would garner negative coverage.

Hillary Clinton fainting leaving a 9/11 memorial service. Photo via YouTube

Another interesting Trump related series that gathered attention was the British man who is accused of an attempted assassination of Trump has expressed remorse for his crimes. Michael Sandford is currently mounting a defense from jail.

A dash of good news has come from Trump as his doctor has declared him ‘in excellent health’ further distancing himself from the health woes Clinton has to combat. However, Clinton’s return to the campaign trail will likely do that for her too.

What coverage has done this week is fall victim to the trend topics of this election. This week it was Clinton’s health scare, Trump’s rallies, and will likely lead to Colin Powell’s emails being an issue in the near future. Another issue that won’t fade in the BBC is Clinton’s emails, which still gets articles.