BBC Director General and News CEO Resign After Criticism Of Broadcaster’s Editing Of A Trump Speech

(BBC) The BBC's director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness have resigned after criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump.

Davie, in the job for five years, had faced increasing pressure over a series of controversies and accusations of bias that have dogged the public broadcaster.

The Telegraph published details of a leaked internal BBC memo on Monday that suggested the Panorama programme edited two parts of the US president's speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

UK political leaders expressed hope the resignations would lead to change, while Trump welcomed the decision.

It is unprecedented for both the director general and the head of BBC News to resign on the same day.

Announcing the move on Sunday evening, Davie said: "Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable.

"While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.

"Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility."

Turness said in a statement on Sunday night that the Panorama controversy had "reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC", adding: "The buck stops with me."

She said: "In public life leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down. While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong."

Turness has been CEO of News and Current Affairs for the past three years.

The internal memo published by the Telegraph also raised concerns about a lack of action to address what it described as "systemic problems" of bias in BBC Arabic's coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.

In Trump's speech in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, he said: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."

However, in the Panorama edit he was shown saying: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."

The two sections that were stitched together were originally more than 50 minutes apart.

The publication of the internal memo sparked criticism of the BBC, including from the White House, which described the corporation as "100% fake news".

Trump responded to the resignations on Sunday, saying top people in the BBC were quitting or being fired "because they were caught 'doctoring' my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th".

"These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election," he wrote. "What a terrible thing for Democracy!"

The pair's resignations come ahead of a statement expected on Monday by BBC chairman Samir Shah to a parliamentary committee in which he was anticipated to apologise for the way the speech was edited.

Commenting on the resignations on Sunday, Shah said it was a "sad day for the BBC" and that Davie "had the full support of me and the [BBC] board throughout" his tenure.

He continued: "However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision today. The whole board respects the decision and the reasons for it."

The leaked memo was written by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's editorial standards committee, who left the role in June.

In the memo, he also expressed concerns about the BBC's coverage of trans issues, suggesting its coverage was effectively "censored" by its specialist LGBT reporters who promoted a pro-trans agenda.

His leaked memo said he had felt "despair" at the lack of action by BBC management "when issues come to light".

Separately on Thursday, the BBC upheld 20 impartiality complaints over the way presenter Martine Croxall altered a script she was reading live earlier this year on the BBC News Channel, which referred to "pregnant people".

The corporation has also faced criticism in recent months over failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official.

The BBC's broadcast of a Glastonbury set in which punk duo Bob Vylan led a chant of "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]" also broke editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence.

Dame Caroline Dineage, who chairs the culture, media and sport committee of MPs, said the broadcaster had been damaged by "what has become a seemingly constant stream of crises and missteps".