Tim Daviethe director general of the BBC, has submitted his resignation this Sunday after the leak of an internal document from the British network leaked by The Telegraph in which it was suggested that a speech by US President Donald Trump had been editedto give the impression that he had explicitly encouraged the riots that led to the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The executive director of News, Deborah Turnesshas also reported his imminent departure from the British network.
“Overall, the BBC is doing its job well, but some mistakes have been made and, as Director General, I must assume ultimate responsibility,” Davie expressed in the letter informing of his resignation. “In these increasingly polarized times, the BBC has a unique value and represents the best of us. (…) Although it is not the only reason, The current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision“adds the former director general of the BBC.
Davie’s departure, after five years at the head of the corporation, joins other recent controversies y accusations of systematic bias on the BBC, including criticism for its Glastonbury festival coveragewhere several artists launched proclamations against Israel and its army. Also for the broadcast of a documentary about Gaza narrated by the son of a Hamas official and for impartiality related to the coverage of trans people.
The edited speech
The latest of the controversies that have shaken the BBC internally has been the publication of a internal document in The Telegraph by Michael Prescotta former independent outside adviser to the network’s editorial standards committee, who left the position in June.
Prescott set off alarm bells over the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’broadcast last year on the Panorama program. In it, Trump appeared saying: “Let’s walk down to the Capitol; I will be there with you and we will fight. We will fight with all our strength and, if you do not fight with all your might, you will no longer have a country.”
Although it seemed like a continuous phrase uttered by the American president, andThe documentary combined three different fragments of his speech. As a result of these accusations, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the United Kingdom gave until this Monday for the president of the BBC, Samir Shahoffered a response on the matter.
Accusations of bias
In addition to the criticism that the British network faces for the documentary about Trump, other accusations focus on the coverage of the conflict in Gaza y impartiality around the trans collective.
The British media regulator, Ofcom, determined in an investigation into the documental ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ (Gaza: How to survive in a war zone) that the BBC had committed a “serious violation” of broadcasting standards by not disclosing that the narrador was the son of a Hamas official. Ofcom concluded that the program was “materially misleading” and imposed, for the first time since 2009, a sanction on the chain.
Michael Prescott also pointed out problems of impartiality in coverage of trans issues. Specifically, he criticized the presenter’s modification of a script on the air. Martine Croxallwho added and emphasized the word “women” after reading “pregnant people”as it appeared in the script, during a live broadcast on BBC News. Following this, more than 20 complaints were made about impartiality, related to the impression that Croxall “indicated a particular point of view in the controversies currently surrounding trans identity”, as concluded by the BBC Executive Complaints Unit.
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