Edit gives fundamentally misleading impression

The BBC’s Question Time leaders’ special last night was a car-crash for Boris Johnson, as the audience dismantled his empty bluster.

But if you only watched the edited clips shown on BBC News today, you’d be forgiven for not getting close to realising just how bad it was.

The original programme featured an exchange in which a Scottish audience member challenged Johnson about his dishonesty – with a damning interjection by the programme’s presenter – to huge applause from the audience.

The audience then laughed in derision at Johnson’s claim he thought honesty was very important – before getting loudly angry at Johnson’s evasiveness and attempt to turn his answer into a soundbite.

But the edited version, spotted by Twitter user @NickFlaks, removed vital context – giving the impression that the audience was applauding Johnson and not his critic – and removing the audience anger completely:

Corbyn was the clear winner last night – and Johnson’s inability to campaign or survive scrutiny was blatantly obvious.

But the BBC and other Establishment media immediately went to work trying to spin it differently – and even to grossly mislead.

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