LONDON: The director general of Britain’s BBC, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of news, Deborah Turness, have resigned following criticism over bias at the corporation, including in the way it edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The BBC has been embroiled in a spate of allegations that it had failed to maintain political neutrality in its reporting, including in its coverage of Trump, the Israel-Hamas war and over trans issues.
In the most recent controversy, the Daily Telegraph had reported for days on an internal document produced by a former BBC adviser on standards who had listed a raft of errors, including in the way a speech by Trump on Jan. 6, 2001, was edited.
The document suggested the flagship Panorama programme had edited two parts of Trump’s speech together so he appeared to encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.
“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,” Davie said in a statement.
“I have been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the Charter plans they will be delivering.”
Trump in the BBC documentary was shown telling his supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol” and that they would “fight like hell”, a comment he made in a different part of his speech.
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the BBC as “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine” in an interview published on Friday.
Davie will stay on for the next few months while a replacement is found.
A person familiar with the situation said Davie’s decision had left the BBC board stunned by the move.