Agency Report
The Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, announced his resignation on Sunday following a row over the editing of a documentary about US President Donald Trump.
Davie and the broadcaster’s head of news, Deborah Turness, resigned after accusations that a documentary by its flagship Panorama programme had edited a speech by Trump in a misleading way.
“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… I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Davie said in a statement posted on the BBC website.
The latest controversy follows a Daily Telegraph report this week that said concerns were first raised in the summer in a memo on impartiality by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee.
Earlier Sunday, the UK Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy called the allegations “incredibly serious”.
The BBC has promised “a full response” to Parliament’s culture, media, and sport committee on Monday.
The latest controversy follows a Daily Telegraph report this week that said concerns were first raised in the summer in a memo on impartiality by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee.
Earlier Sunday, the UK Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy called the allegations “incredibly serious”.
The BBC has promised “a full response” to Parliament’s culture, media, and sport committee on Monday.
Trump’s speech edited
The criticism emerged over clips spliced together from sections of a Trump speech on January 6, 2021, when he was accused of fomenting the mob attack on the US Capitol, seeking to keep him in power despite losing his re-election bid.
The edit made it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them and “fight like hell”.
In the undistorted clip, however, the president urged the audience to walk with him, “and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
At the time, Trump was still disputing President Joe Biden’s election victory, in a vote that saw him ousted after his first term in office.
The edit was included in a documentary entitled “Trump: A Second Chance?” that was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.
