image source, Hannah McKay – WPA Pool/Getty Images
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- author, Drafting
- author title, BBC News World
The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie and head of UK corporate news Deborah Turness announced their resignations this Sunday.
The measure was announced in response to criticism caused by a documentary about Donald Trump on Panorama.
Newspaper reports suggested that the documentary edited the US president’s speech to mislead viewers.
british newspaper telegraph paper The show has published details of a leaked internal BBC document that suggests the program edited together two parts of President Trump’s speech to make it appear as if the president explicitly encouraged the January 2021 Capitol riot.
The leaked memo comes from Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Board who left the role in June.
Prescott expressed concerns about the documentary.”Trump: A second chance?Trump: A Second Chance? aired on the network last year and was produced for the BBC by independent production company October Film.
Towards the transition
Mr Davie said: “I wanted to let you know that I have decided to leave the BBC after 20 years. This is my decision and I remain extremely grateful to the chairman and the board for their unanimous and unwavering support throughout my term, including recently.”
The former BBC director said he was working to ensure an “orderly transition to a successor in the coming months”.
“In these increasingly polarized times, the BBC has unique values and represents the best of us. The BBC helps make Britain a special place, one that is overwhelmingly kind, tolerant and curious. Like any public sector organization, the BBC is not perfect and must always be open, transparent and accountable. The current debate around BBC News naturally contributed to my decision, although not the only reason.”
Mr Davie concluded: “While the BBC is doing well overall, it has made some mistakes and as director-general I must take ultimate responsibility.”
image source, Getty Images
Deborah Turness acknowledged that “the ongoing controversy surrounding the Panorama program about President Trump has reached a stage where it is damaging to the BBC, an institution for which I am extremely grateful.”
“While some mistakes were made, I want to be clear that recent claims of institutional bias by BBC News are false,” he added.
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