BBC in turmoil over Trump speech ‘edit’

Boss, news chief quit after 'bias' allegations

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Members of the media wait outside the entrance to the offices of the BBC in London yesterday. The director general of the BBC announced his resignation on Sunday following a row over the editing of a documentary about Donald Trump as the US president attacked 'corrupt journalists'.AFP

The BBC's boss and its head of news quit on Sunday following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

The publicly funded BBC had been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser, which cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, transgender issues and a speech made by Mr Trump, was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Mr Trump welcomed the departures, criticising the two as “very dishonest people” after the BBC’s flagship Panorama programme edited two parts of one of his speeches together so he appeared to be encouraging the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

Tim Davie, who has led the British Broadcasting Corporation since 2020, defended the organisation, saying its journalism was seen as the gold standard around the world. But he said mistakes had been made and he had to take ultimate responsibility.

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, also resigned. In an email to staff she said: "I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong."