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Europe|Two Top BBC Leaders Quit Over Editing of Trump Documentary
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/world/europe/bbc-resignations.html
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The abrupt moves followed furor over claims that a documentary had misleadingly edited footage of President Trump’s speech before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Tim Davie and Deborah TurnessOli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images & Belinda Jiao/Reuters
Nov. 9, 2025Updated 6:33 p.m. ET
Two of the top executives of the BBC resigned abruptly on Sunday following a report suggesting the public service broadcaster had misleadingly edited a speech by President Trump that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The surprise resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, came several days after The Daily Telegraph published details of a leaked internal memo arguing that a BBC Panorama documentary had juxtaposed comments by Mr. Trump in a way that made it appear that he had explicitly encouraged the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Like all public organizations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable,” Mr. Davie said in a statement. “While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.”
Mr. Davie added: “Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
Ms. Turness, in her announcement, said, “The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC — an institution that I love.”
She said that “the buck stops with me” and conceded that “mistakes have been made” but insisted that “recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
