Top brass at the BBC including Director-General Tim Davie and Chief Executive Officer of News, Deborah Turness have resigned from their positions after the British media organisation was indicted for doctoring President Donald Trump’s January 6 speech to deceive the public.
In a note sent to staff members on Sunday, Mr Davie said he was resigning as the director general of the British broadcaster amid calls for “head to roll” over the saga.
“Overall, the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Mr Davie said in the message.
The double high-profile resignations came days after British tabloid, Telegraph, exposed how the BBC intentionally edited Mr Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, featured on its Panorama programme to imply that the American leader encouraged his supporters to cause the Capitol Hill riot.
According to Telegraph, the BBC manipulated the video used in its broadcast a week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election to make Mr Trump appear like he was telling his supporters to “fight like hell,” when in fact he said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The article noted that despite concerns raised by BBC’s own standards watchdog, senior executives at the broadcaster, including chairman, Samir Shah, reportedly ignored and dismissed strings of serious complaints raised.
Several figures within the United Kingdom, including Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch and a former BBC adviser, Michael Prescott, called for sanctions immediately the story went public, prompting Mr Davie and Mrs Turness to resign amid the controversy.
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