The BBC director-general, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, have resigned following criticism of the broadcaster’s handling of an episode of Panorama that edited remarks by US President Donald Trump about 6 January 2021.
Both confirmed their departures on Sunday, citing accountability for errors and the need to restore confidence in the corporation’s journalism.
The row intensified over the past week after The Telegraph published extracts from an internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee. The memo said Panorama had combined two separate portions of Mr Trump’s speech in a way that made it appear he was urging supporters towards confrontation at the US Capitol. The documentary was produced for the BBC by independent company October Films and aired ahead of the 2024 US election.
Reuters reported that the White House had recently labelled the BBC a “propaganda machine” in response to the edit, which omitted Mr Trump’s call for peaceful protest while foregrounding lines about “fight like hell”. Mr Davie said the decision to go was his, adding that he would take responsibility for mistakes under his leadership, while Ms Turness accepted responsibility for the news division but rejected claims of institutional bias.
In remarks on Sunday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the allegations against the corporation as “very serious”, adding that the most serious was the claim of “systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported”. She said she was confident the BBC was treating the matter with appropriate seriousness.
The Guardian reported that Mr Davie’s decision followed mounting political and public pressure stemming from Mr Prescott’s dossier, which also raised concerns about BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel–Hamas war and the handling of debates on gender identity. Ms Turness’s departure, announced alongside Mr Davie’s, prompted questions over leadership continuity as the BBC prepares for future funding discussions.
The BBC has not published the full Prescott memo but confirmed that serious allegations had been raised and considered by executives and the board. The BBC’s live updates noted that the board “respects the decision” of the director-general, and that further statements would follow as interim arrangements are put in place.
This controversy centres on editorial judgment and presentation in long-form current-affairs output rather than live news. Panorama is the BBC’s flagship investigative programme; the episode at issue was prepared by an external production company under BBC editorial control. According to the Telegraph’s reporting on the memo, the programme spliced two parts of Mr Trump’s speech: his call to “walk down to the Capitol” and a separate “fight like hell” line, which originally appeared in a different section of the address. Reuters noted that in the original sequence Mr Trump also told supporters to “cheer on” members of Congress and referred to a “peaceful” protest.
The episode has become a test of the BBC’s impartiality commitments during a politically charged period. The corporation, which is funded by the licence fee, is periodically scrutinised by government and the press over balance and fairness in coverage. The latest dispute combines questions of accuracy in editing with wider claims about topic selection and tone across sensitive subjects. Ms Nandy’s comments indicate that ministers expect the BBC to set out remedial steps; several outlets reported that the BBC was preparing to apologise formally over the Trump edit.
The Panorama controversy follows other recent rows about impartiality and editorial decisions, including disputes over presenters’ social-media activity and programme content in the context of the Gaza conflict. The resignations mark the most significant change at the top of the BBC since 2020 and come ahead of the next phase of debate on the BBC’s governance and funding model.
