Copyright huffingtonpost
The director general of the BBC has sensationally quit over the corporation’s handling of claims one of its flagship programmes “doctored” a speech by Donald Trump. Tim Davie announced his resignation as Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, prepares to issue an apology over an edition of Panorama broadcast last October. Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, announced that she was also resigning as the broadcaster was plunged into a fresh crisis. In a note to BBC staff, Davie said: “I wanted to let you know that I have decided to leave the BBC after 20 years. “This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the chair and board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days. “I am working through exact timings with the board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months.” Samir Shah said: “Tim has been an outstanding director-general for the last five years. He has propelled the BBC forward with determination, single-mindedness and foresight. “He has had the full support of me and the board throughout. However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision today. The whole board respects the decision and the reasons for it.” Panorama was accused of splicing together two sections of the speech Trump made to supporters shortly before the riots on January 6 2020 to give a misleading impression of what he actually said. In one section, Trump appears to say he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to “fight like hell”. However, Trump actually said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”. He called on his supporters to “fight like hell” later in the speech amid false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. A 19-page dossier on the incident, seen by the Daily Telegraph, was sent to the BBC board by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the corporation’s editorial guidelines and standards committee. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, has branded the BBC “full of shit” over the controversy. Speaking to the Telegraph, Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: “This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 per cent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.” Paying tribute to Davie on X, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “He has 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 is one of our most important national institutions. Every day, it tells the story of who we are - the people, places and communities that make up life across the UK. “Now more than ever, the need for trusted news and high quality programming is essential to our democratic and cultural life, and our place in the world.”
