BBC director general Tim Davie resigns following accusations of misleading edits in Trump documentary, with US president calling journalists “corrupt”
LONDON: BBC director general Tim Davie has resigned following controversy over the editing of a documentary about Donald Trump.
Davie and BBC head of news Deborah Turness stepped down after accusations that the broadcaster’s Panorama programme had misleadingly edited a Trump speech.
Reacting to the news, Trump said “corrupt journalists” had been exposed, adding “these are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election”.
Announcing his resignation, Davie stated: “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,” he said.
The controversy centres on clips spliced together from Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech about the US Capitol attack.
The edit made it appear Trump told supporters he would walk to the Capitol with them and “fight like hell”.
In the unedited clip, Trump urged the audience to walk with him “and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women”.
The edited version appeared in “Trump: A Second Chance?” broadcast the week before last year’s US election.
UK Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy called the allegations “incredibly serious” earlier on Sunday.
Nandy said the Trump edit was one of several concerns about editorial standards at the BBC.
“There are a series of very serious allegations made, the most serious of which is that there is systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported at the BBC,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to celebrate the resignations, sharing a screenshot of the BBC news announcement on social media.
The BBC has promised “a full response” to parliament’s culture media and sport committee on Monday.
This follows earlier controversies including apologies for “serious flaws” in a Gaza documentary broadcast in February. – AFP
