credit, Reuters
The BBC had come under criticism for its documentary program. panoramawas accused of misleadingly editing a speech by US President Donald Trump to give the impression that he was inciting an attack on the US Capitol in January 2021.
In emails sent to employees, both Davie and Turness acknowledged that “mistakes were made.”
Who are Tim Davie and Deborah Turnes?
Tim Davie was appointed Director-General of the BBC in September 2020. He is responsible for overseeing the BBC’s services and is responsible for editorial, operations and creative.
He was not new to the BBC when he took up the role. He had already been executive director of BBC Studios for seven years.
Before joining the BBC, Davey worked for organizations such as Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo.
Deborah Turness will be CEO of BBC News from 2022, overseeing the BBC’s news and current affairs programmes.
In her role, she leads a team of approximately 6,000 people who broadcast programming and news in more than 40 languages to approximately 500 million people around the world.
Previously, he served as CEO of ITN Group and president of NBC News.
Why did they resign from their positions?
The resignation follows controversy surrounding the documentary. panorama qualified Trump: A second chance?aired one week before the 2024 US presidential election.
Turness said in a statement: “The current controversy is panorama “President Trump has reached the point where he is damaging the BBC, which I love.”
“As CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, ultimate responsibility rests with me and last night I took the decision to tender my resignation to the director general.”
He added: “While mistakes were made, I want to be absolutely clear that recent claims that BBC News is institutionally biased are false.”
Davey did not mention the documentary. panorama In a memo announcing his resignation, he said: “The current debate surrounding BBC News naturally influenced my decision, although not the only reason.”
“Overall, the BBC has performed well, but it has also made some mistakes, for which, as director-general, I must take ultimate responsibility.”
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Last week, the Telegraph published an exclusive report claiming that an internal BBC memo had been leaked.
The memo came from Michael Prescott, a former independent external consultant to the station’s Editorial Standards Board. He retired in June.
According to the memo, this documentary panoramalasted an hour and featured edited portions of President Trump’s speech that made it appear as if he was explicitly encouraging the January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a speech in Washington on January 6, 2021, President Trump said, “We will walk to the Capitol and applaud our brave senators and members of the House of Representatives.”
However, when editing, panoramahe showed up and said, “We’ll walk to the Capitol…and I’ll be there with you. And we’ll fight. We’ll fight as hard as we can.”
Two excerpts from President Trump’s speech were edited to appear as just one sentence. However, each excerpt was spoken over 50 minutes apart.
The comment about fighting “with all my might” was taken from a section in which President Trump discussed how “corrupt” the American election was. He used the words “struggle” and “struggle” a total of 20 times in his speech.
The Telegraph said the document contained “distortions of the day’s events”. panorama Viewers will be left wondering: “Why should we trust the BBC, and where does it end?”
When the issue was raised with BBC directors, the memo states, they “refused to accept that there had been a breach of standards”.
The BBC has come under fire for a range of other issues in recent weeks.
The Telegraph also reported that Mr Prescott expressed concern about the lack of action to address the “systemic problem” of anti-Israel bias in the BBC Arabic news service’s coverage of the war in Gaza.
The report also said Mr Prescott had raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage of issues relating to transgender people.
And on Thursday, the BBC upheld 20 impartiality complaints over how it changed a reference to “pregnant people” in a script that presenter Martin Croxall was reading live on BBC News Channel earlier this year.
Why did Davey resign at this time?
Davey was nicknamed “Tim Teflon” by some members of the media.
He has also tried to move past recent controversies, which have intensified in recent days. The BBC plans to apologize for the documentary this Monday (October 11) panorama.
This comes at a sensitive time for the BBC, with the government looking to review the documents governing its entire relationship with the company before the current term ends in 2027.
“You will ask why now, why at this time,” Davie said in a statement.
He said he was “the BBC in body and soul”, cared deeply about the broadcaster and wanted it to succeed.
“That’s why I want to create the best conditions and the best space for the new Director-General to take on the role and actively shape the next Charter. I hope that as we move forward, there will be a smart, sober and reasoned public conversation about the next chapter of the BBC.”
How will the BBC choose its next director-general?
The Director General is appointed by the BBC Board. The BBC Board is the body responsible for ensuring that the broadcaster fulfills its mission and public purpose.
The BBC Board is led by Chairman Sameer Shah, one of 10 non-executive members, and four executive members, including the Director-General.
When Mr Davie was appointed in 2020, the process to select his successor was led by the BBC Board’s Appointments Committee.
The appointment of the Director-General is made in accordance with the provisions of the BBC Charter.
Mr Davie’s successor will be the 18th director-general in the BBC’s 103-year history.
Among the names being considered as potential candidates is Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s former content director who was responsible for all programs except news and oversaw hits such as: traitors, wheel and happy valley.
Other names include Jay Hunt, one of the most experienced executives in British television, and James Harding, who was head of news at the BBC from 2013 to 2018.
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