Edited Trump speech: BBC director general Tim Davie, News CEO Deborah Turness resign
Pedestrians walk past a BBC logo at Broadcasting House in London, Britain | Reuters
Two top executives of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) resigned on Sunday following accusations of bias, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.
The resignations of Director General Tim Davie and the CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness, came amid mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, transgender issues, and a speech by Trump.
Trump welcomed their departures, calling the duo “very dishonest people”.
The broadcaster faced immense criticism after its flagship Panorama programme edited together two parts of one of his speeches, so that he appeared to be encouraging the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.
"Overall, the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as Director-General I have to take ultimate responsibility," Davie said in a note sent to the staff on Sunday afternoon.
Turness, who also submitted her resignation, noted in a statement that the controversy around Trump’s edited speech was causing damage to the broadcaster.
"In public life, leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down. While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong,” she said.
The internal report, which was leaked to the Daily Telegraph, alleged that BBC Arabic had shown anti-Israel bias in its reporting of the war in Gaza.
It also claimed that an effort to cover a group campaigning for single-sex spaces had been suppressed by a small group of staff who saw it as hostile to the transgender community.
In its report about the resignations, the broadcaster admitted that it was unprecedented for both the director general and the head of BBC News to resign on the same day.
Davie has led the BBC since 2020, while Turness has been CEO of News and Current Affairs for the past three years.
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