Washington previously labeled the British state-funded broadcaster “100% fake news” concerning its portrayal of the 2021 US Capitol riots.
The director general and head of news at the BBC have stepped down following accusations that the British state broadcaster misled the public in a documentary examining former US President Donald Trump’s involvement in the 2021 Capitol riots.
On Sunday, the BBC announced the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness. This came a day after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the broadcaster as a “Leftist propaganda machine” and accused it of being “purposefully dishonest.” Leavitt’s comments were made in response to claims that the BBC had edited together various segments of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech.
In his resignation statement, BBC director general Davie offered little detail on the matter and did not specify his reasons for leaving, merely stating that “the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to [his] decision” and acknowledging that “there have been some mistakes made.”
BBC News CEO Turness, in her statement, conceded that “the ongoing controversy around the Panorama [program] on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC.” She asserted that the broadcaster aims to “pursue the truth with no agenda” and rejected allegations that the channel is “institutionally biased.”
Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that a BBC Panorama episode featured a clip that combined Trump’s remarks delivered approximately 54 minutes apart. Protesters shown marching towards the Capitol immediately after this edited clip were, in fact, filmed before Trump began addressing supporters on January 6.
Last month, Ofcom, the UK communications watchdog, determined that the BBC had violated journalistic standards in a separate documentary. The program, which focused on Gaza, failed to disclose that its narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The regulator found the documentary to be “materially misleading.”
The broadcaster receives its funding from an annual license fee of £174.50 ($229), with the British government also directly contributing one-third of the World Service’s budget.