BBC director general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness have resigned following criticism over an edited speech by US President Donald Trump in a documentary. The controversy centered on a Panorama program titled 'Trump: A Second Chance?' that aired before last year's US election.
An internal document from a former BBC adviser revealed that the program edited two parts of Trump's January 6, 2021 speech together, making him appear to directly encourage the Capitol Hill riots. The edit omitted a section where Trump called for peaceful demonstrations.
Davie said in a statement that he took ultimate responsibility for mistakes made, while Turness stated the controversy was damaging the BBC and that 'the buck stops with me'. UK culture minister Lisa Nandy expressed concerns about systemic bias and inconsistent editorial standards at the broadcaster.
The BBC had previously apologized for 'serious flaws' in a documentary on Gaza and accepted a sanction for a 'materially misleading' program whose child narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
