The BBC’s director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness have both resigned following intense criticism over a Panorama documentary that misleadingly edited U.S. President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech.
The programme combined separate parts of the speech to portray Trump as inciting the Capitol riot, a move that sparked widespread controversy.
Davie, who led the corporation for five years, took full responsibility for the editorial mistakes and said his resignation was entirely his decision. He acknowledged the demands of managing the BBC amid polarised political times and emphasised the broadcaster’s need for openness and accountability. Davie will work on an orderly transition to his successor, who will influence the forthcoming Royal Charter guiding the BBC’s future governance.
Turness stated the controversy had caused damage to the BBC, personally taking accountability. She rejected claims that BBC News is institutionally biased despite admitting errors had been made.
The leaked internal memo revealed that Panorama edited Trump’s speech to stitch together segments over 50 minutes apart, creating an impression of explicit encouragement to “fight like hell.” This distorted portrayal drew sharp condemnation, including from the White House which labelled the BBC “100% fake news.” Trump called the resigning executives “very dishonest people,” accusing them of interfering in a U.S. presidential election.
This scandal compounds other impartiality issues facing the BBC, such as complaints upheld regarding presenter Martine Croxall’s script changes discussing “pregnant people,” failure to disclose a narrator’s Hamas connections in a Gaza documentary, and editorial breaches in a Glastonbury broadcast involving anti-Israel chants.
Political leaders reacted strongly: Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy praised Davie’s leadership and the BBC’s role as a democratic cornerstone, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for deeper institutional reform and insisted on genuine impartiality to justify licence fee funding.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey welcomed the resignations as an opportunity for renewal, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage demanded radical leadership changes to overhaul the corporation’s culture.
BBC chairman Samir Shah described the resignations as a “sad day” but reiterated the board’s full support for Davie during his tenure and acknowledged the pressures leading to his decision.