At issue is the editing of the American president’s speech in a documentary on the BBC Panorama program that manipulated Donald Trump’s speech on the day of the attack on the Capitol.
The director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, and the executive president of BBC News, Deborah Turness, resigned this Sunday following a wave of criticism surrounding a report that targeted US President Donald Trump.
At issue is the editing of the American president’s speech in a documentary on the BBC Panorama program. The episode in question showed an edited speech by Trump, given on January 6, 2021, which implied that the then president explicitly encouraged the riots that would culminate in the invasion of the Capitol.
The edited message appeared to show Trump making direct statements inciting violence, which generated a wave of accusations of political bias.
An internal document from the British channel, released by the newspaper The Telegraph, points out that the program “completely deceived” viewers by showing the president telling his supporters that he would go with them to the capitol to “fight with all his strength”.
In the original message, Donald Trump states that he would walk together with his supporters “to make your voices heard in a peaceful and patriotic way”.
In a message to employees, Tim Davie took ultimate responsibility, admitting that “mistakes were made”.
The American president has already reacted to his dismissal, celebrating the decision that attacked his “excellent speech”.
