Muktadesh Desk: British media outlet BBC Director General Tim Davey and Head of News Deborah Turnes have resigned. They made this decision after allegations arose that they misled viewers by editing US President Donald Trump’s speech.
Davey had been in this position for the past five years. He was under pressure due to several controversies and allegations of bias.
The Telegraph published a leaked BBC internal memo on Monday. It said that the ‘Panorama’ program edited and combined two parts of US President Donald Trump’s speech in such a way that it seemed that he directly incited the attack on Capitol Hill in the United States in January 2021.
UK politicians are expressing hope that their resignations will bring about change. On the other hand, Trump welcomed the decision.
Mamdani from a one-room house to a ‘mayor’s palace’ Mamdani from a one-room house to a ‘mayor’s palace’ The resignation of the BBC’s Director General and Head of News on the same day is unprecedented. “Like all public institutions, the BBC is not perfect. We must always be open, transparent and accountable. The current controversy is not the only reason for my resignation. But it certainly has had an impact. Overall, the BBC is doing well, but there have been some mistakes – and as Director General, I must take responsibility for them.”
Terness has been the BBC’s chief executive of news and current affairs for the past three years. “The Panorama controversy has reached a point where it is becoming damaging to the BBC. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with me as the leader,” he said in a statement.
He added, “Leaders in public life must be held fully accountable – that is why I am stepping down. While there have been some mistakes, recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are completely false.”
The internal memo, published by The Telegraph, also said that insufficient steps had been taken to address “systematic bias” in BBC Arabic’s reporting on the Israel-Gaza war.
In a speech in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump said, “We will go to Capitol Hill and encourage our brave senators and congressmen.”
But the BBC’s ‘Panorama’ documentary edited the speech to show, “We will go to Capitol Hill… and I will be with you. We will fight. We will fight fiercely.”
In fact, these two sentences were about 50 minutes apart in Trump’s speech. That is, the program’s editing has been accused of distorting the meaning of the speech by combining two separate parts.
After this information was leaked, widespread criticism began on the BBC. The White House also reacted harshly to the internal memo published by the Telegraph. The US administration called the BBC “100% fake news”. Source: BBC