credit, Reuters
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness announced their resignations on Sunday (09/11) following revelations about the controversy surrounding a documentary about US President Donald Trump.
The Telegraph published details of an internal BBC memo suggesting that Panorama had edited excerpts from two parts of Trump’s speech to make it appear as if Trump had explicitly encouraged the Capitol riots in January 2021.
“A mistake was made, and as executive director I must accept the highest responsibility,” Davey said in a statement.
“The situation ends with me,” Turness said in another message, calling the decision to resign “difficult.”
“The entire board respects this decision,” said BBC president Sameer Shah.
The memo leaked to the Telegraph was drafted by Michael Prescott, an independent external consultant who served on the company’s editorial standards committee. He resigned from his position in June.
Davey also said in the statement that he is working with the board to ensure an orderly transition in the coming months.