A documentary from the British channel's flagship news magazine, "Panorama", broadcast in October 2024, is implicated.

UNITED KINGDOM - It's a real bombshell at the BBC . Director-General Tim Davie and the head of news at the British public broadcaster, Deborah Turness, announced their resignations on Sunday, November 9, following the controversial editing of a speech by Donald Trump .

Following this announcement, the American president denounced the BBC's "corrupt journalists" on his Truth Social network. "These are very dishonest people who tried to influence the outcome of a presidential election. To top it all off, they come from a foreign country, considered by many to be our number one ally. This is terrible for democracy!" the American president continued .

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The lawyers for the US president have sent a letter to the BBC threatening a lawsuit for "false and defamatory statements ." In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, the lawyers give the BBC until Friday to withdraw the documentary containing the misleading edit and apologize. If the BBC fails to do so, Donald Trump threatens a lawsuit seeking damages of at least $1 billion.

Earlier in the day, the chairman of the BBC, Samir Shah, stated in a press release that it was "a sad day for the BBC . " "Tim has been an excellent director-general for the past five years ," he said, but he faced "persistent pressure... which led him to take this decision ," also paying tribute to the "integrity" shown by Deborah Turness "in difficult circumstances . "

In a letter addressed to the chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on Culture and Media, Samir Shah then offered the apologies of the public broadcasting group and acknowledged an "error of judgment" .

The British government's support

For its part, the British government "supports a strong and independent BBC" , which plays "a vital role in the age of disinformation" , even if it must "maintain high quality" and "correct its mistakes quickly" , its spokesman said on Monday.

The major British media outlet has been accused in recent days of misrepresenting statements by Donald Trump in a documentary on its flagship news magazine, Panorama , broadcast in October 2024.

Samir Shah is summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee on Monday to explain this affair, which British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described on Sunday as "extremely serious ." It comes shortly after the BBC was sanctioned by the media regulator for a documentary on Gaza deemed misleading.

“The current debate surrounding BBC news contributed to my decision ,” Tim Davie acknowledged in a message to his staff announcing his resignation. “While the BBC generally does good work, mistakes have been made and, ultimately, the Director-General must take responsibility for them . ”

Letter to staff

BBC News director Deborah Turness, who also resigned, explained in her letter to staff that the "current controversy surrounding the 'Panorama' report on President Trump has reached a point where it is damaging to the BBC ." However, she maintained that "recent accusations that BBC News is institutionally biased are false . " "There is no institutional bias" at BBC News, she asserted in a separate statement. BBC News "is the most trusted news source in the world ," Turness told reporters outside the broadcaster's headquarters, adding that its journalists were "serious people who strive to be impartial . "

The case, revealed last Tuesday by the conservative newspaper The Daily Telegraph , concerns a documentary broadcast a week before the US presidential election of November 5, 2024.

The BBC is accused of editing different passages from a speech by Donald Trump dating from January 6, 2021 - the day hundreds of his supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington - in such a way that he appears to tell them that he will march with them to the Capitol to "fight like hell" .

In the original sentence, Donald Trump said, "We're going to march to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and representatives in Congress ." The phrase "fight like hell" actually referred to a different passage. At the time, Donald Trump refused to concede defeat in the election to Democrat Joe Biden.