BBC chiefs resign after broadcaster calls editing of Trump’s speech misleading

BBC Director-General Tim Davey and BBC News Director Deborah Terness announced on Sunday that they are stepping down.

The holiday comes as the British public broadcaster has come under fire for its editing of President Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech before the Capitol riots and riots.

The BBC’s investigative series “Panorama” aired an edited video of Trump’s speech on a show a week before last year’s US presidential election.

Critics said the way the speech was edited was inaccurate, cutting out a section in which Trump said he hoped his supporters would protest peacefully.

“I know everyone here will be going to the capitol building soon to hear your voice in a peaceful and patriotic way.” Trump said in the speech, urging his supporters to “fight like hell.”

In a statement, Ternes acknowledged the controversy surrounding the Panorama broadcast, noting, “Leaders in public life must be fully accountable, and that is why I am resigning. While mistakes have been made, I want to make it absolutely clear that BBC News is fundamentally biased and wrong.”

In a separate news release, Davey said, “In these increasingly polarizing times, the BBC has special value and speaks to all of our best people. It helps make Britain a unique place; very kind, tolerant and passionate. Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable.”

“Whilst not the only reason, the current debate about BBC News has helped inform my decision. Overall the BBC is delivering well, but some mistakes have been made and as director-general I must take ultimate responsibility.”

Trump posted a link to a Daily Telegraph story about the editing of the speech on his Twitter account and thanked the newspaper for “exposing these corrupt journalists.” These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of the presidential election. He called it “a terrible thing for democracy!”

White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt reacted to X, posting a screen grab of an article titled “Trump Goes to War with ‘Fake News’ BBC” with the words “shot” and “identity” next to another about Dewey’s resignation.

On January 6, 2021, Trump was impeached and criminally indicted for his role in corruption and sedition. The criminal charges were dropped after he won the 2024 election, as it is US Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted criminally.

Pressure on the broadcaster’s top brass has been mounting since The Daily Telegraph newspaper published parts of the dossier tracked by Michael Prescott, who was hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.

In addition to Trump’s edit, it criticized the BBC’s coverage of gender issues and raised concerns of anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s Arabic service.

The 103-year-old BBC faces more scrutiny than other broadcasters – and criticism from its commercial rivals – because of its status as a national institution, which is funded through a $230 annual license fee paid by all households with a television.

The BBC broadcasts a wide range of entertainment and sport programs across multiple television and radio and online platforms – but it is BBC News that often comes under scrutiny.

The publisher is bound by its charter to be neutral in its output, and critics are quick to point out when they think it has failed. It’s frequently a political football, with conservatives looking to the left on the news and some liberals accusing it of conservative bias.

It has also been criticized from all angles for its coverage of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. In February, the BBC removed a documentary about Gaza from its streaming service after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of an official in the Hamas-led government.

The BBC’s turnaround comes as Trump has become more aggressive in pursuing lawsuits against US media companies. Paramount Global took out more than $16 million this summer after Trump complained about the editing of a Kamala Harris interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Last year, ABC News paid $16 million to settle Trump’s defamation suit against anchor George Stephanopoulos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.