FT: BBC boss Tim Davie resigns over Trump documentary edit

Key topics:BBC chief Tim Davie quits amid bias and Trump documentary scandalLeaked memo accuses BBC of bias on Trump, Gaza war, trans issuesResignations spark political backlash and questions over BBC’s future.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Daniel Thomas and Jim Pickard in London.BBC director-general Tim Davie has resigned after days of criticism over the public service broadcaster’s coverage, including misleading edits of a Donald Trump speech in a documentary.BBC News head Deborah Turness also quit on Sunday, with the simultaneous departures of two senior figures shocking staff and underlining the scale of the crisis at the corporation.The BBC had been due to apologise to MPs over the Panorama documentary about Trump on Monday. The White House this week denounced the broadcaster as a “leftist propaganda machine”.Davie said in an email to BBC staff on Sunday evening that “the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision”.“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility,” he added.Turness said “the ongoing controversy around the Panorama [programme] on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC . . . the buck stops with me”.The mounting pressure on the BBC’s top management was triggered by a memo sent to the corporation’s board by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to its standards committee, which sets editorial guidelines.His letter, which was first reported by the Daily Telegraph, accused the BBC of a series of failures in its coverage of Trump, the Gaza war and the rights of transgender people. Prescott claimed his concerns had been ignored by BBC executives..Read more:.The Economist: Leaked war plans – Security blunder shocks US.Prescott drew attention to the BBC Panorama programme broadcast in October 2024, which spliced together clips from separate parts of an inflammatory speech Trump made in Washington on January 6 2021.That was the day Trump’s supporters attacked Congress as lawmakers ratified his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 US presidential election.Trump in the Panorama programme was shown telling his supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol” and that they would “fight like hell”, a comment he made in a different part of his speech.In fact, he followed up that specific remark about walking to the Capitol by saying they would “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women”.Trump responded to the news of Davie and Turness resigning by posting on his Truth Social platform that “TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th”.He accused them of being “corrupt” and “very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election”.Prescott’s letter to the BBC board had left the corporation’s management in a state of “high tension”, according to one executive, with concerns among some of a campaign to undermine the broadcaster and its news agenda.But people close to the board were even this weekend playing down the scandal despite the letter fuelling criticism of the BBC and Davie by former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.On Sunday morning, Labour culture secretary Lisa Nandy said she had full confidence in Davie, as well as BBC chair Samir Shah.Officials insisted Nandy did not push for Davie’s resignation and had only been told shortly before the announcement on Sunday evening.Nandy said Davie had “led the BBC through a period of significant change and helped the organisation to grip the challenges it has faced in recent years”.The BBC on Thursday held an emergency board call to discuss its response to the leaking of Prescott’s memo and the ensuing criticisms of the BBC. There was little suggestion then that Davie would decide to resign.Davie told the BBC board of his decision on Sunday afternoon, according to one person close to the situation, who added he had made his decision overnight after days of deliberating.“It's a total shock,” they added, pointing out Davie’s role had appeared more fragile over the summer in the wake of criticism of the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury, where an artist was streamed live on the broadcaster’s iPlayer platform leading chants of “death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”.Since becoming BBC director-general in 2020, Davie had withstood a series of crises and damaging scandals, earning him the nickname “Teflon Tim”.On Sunday Davie said he had been “reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times”.He added that resigning was “entirely my decision”. Davie thanked Shah and the BBC board for their “unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days”.Davie is expected to stay on as BBC director-general until the board has appointed a successor.The resignations of Davie and Turness come as the BBC faces an important set of negotiations with ministers, with the corporation seeking to renew its royal charter, under which it operates, from 2027.The government is planning to release a green paper into options for the future of the BBC, including areas such as funding and audience reach, before the end of the year.Badenoch said Prescott’s memo had exposed “institutional bias” at the BBC, and that new leadership at the corporation “must now deliver genuine reform of the culture of the BBC”.Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, which is leading in UK opinion polls, called for a “wholesale clearout” of the BBC to restore trust in the broadcaster, saying it was facing “an existential crisis”.But Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said that while the BBC was not perfect “it remains one of the few institutions standing between our British values and a populist, Trump-style takeover of our politics”..© 2025 The Financial Times Ltd.

FT: BBC boss Tim Davie resigns over Trump documentary edit

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