Tim Davie. Photo by Getty Images.
In light of the scandal surrounding the editing of Donald Trump's speech in the Panorama program, BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Deborah Turness have decided to resign. This was reported by the Russian service of the BBC.
In his letter, Davie noted: "While the BBC is not perfect, we must remain open and accountable. The current discussions surrounding BBC News have certainly influenced my decision, although this is not the only reason. Overall, the BBC is functioning at an appropriate level, but some mistakes have been made, and as Director General, I take responsibility for that."
According to Davie, he is working with the board of directors to determine the timeline for his departure to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities to the new leadership in the coming months.
Deborah Turness, for her part, stated: "The controversy surrounding the Panorama program on Trump has reached a level that is damaging to the BBC, an organization I greatly respect. I want to emphasize that the accusations of bias against BBC News are false." She added that she submitted her resignation on Saturday.
Tim Davie took the position of Director General of the BBC in September 2020, having previously led the commercial division of BBC Studios for seven years. In total, he has worked at the BBC for 20 years.
Deborah Turness has been in charge of BBC News since 2022, overseeing a team of more than 5,000 staff who create content in over 40 languages for an audience of 500 million people worldwide.
Trump's Reaction
Donald Trump commented on the resignation of the BBC Director General on his social network TruthSocial, stating: "Everyone is being fired or resigning because they were caught distorting my perfect speech on January 6."Trump also added that these are "extremely dishonest people" who tried to interfere in the election process and called it a horror for democracy.
Context
The resignations of Davie and Turness were a consequence of a publication in the Telegraph, which claimed that the BBC Panorama documentary "Trump: A Second Chance?" misled viewers, as the president's speech was edited, creating a false impression of his actions on January 6, 2021.According to the Telegraph, various parts of Trump's speech were edited together in the program, leading to the conclusion that he encouraged the riots. This was revealed in an internal memo from Michael Prescott, a former external advisor to the Editorial Standards Committee.
On Sunday, shortly before Davie's announcement, UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer described the situation with Panorama as "very serious," adding that the BBC is also accused of systemic bias in covering complex issues.
Additionally, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee previously sent a letter to the BBC chairman requesting information about the situation, with a response expected on Monday.
