London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – BBC Director General Tim Davie will address staff after resigning, as US President Donald Trump threatens $1bn lawsuit over Panorama speech edit.
As reported by The Independent, BBC’s outgoing Director General Tim Davie will address all staff on 9 November, marking his first public appearance since resigning.
President Trump alleged the BBC tried to
“interfere in last year’s election”
by editing his speech for a Panorama episode in October.
Critics argue the documentary gave a misleading account of the president’s 6 January 2021 speech by omitting his call for peaceful demonstrations.
The president’s legal team demanded that the BBC issue a retraction, an apology, and pay compensation by Friday, or face legal action.
The BBC said on Monday, 10 November, that it is reviewing the letter and will
“respond directly in due course.”
Why did Tim Davie plan to address the BBC staff?
BBC’s outgoing director Tim Davie will address staff following Donald Trump’s $1 billion threat against the corporation.
The broadcaster confirmed Mr Davie will address all staff on Tuesday.
The corporation’s board is set to name the next BBC Director-General following Mr Davie’s departure. The BBC Board will appoint his successor to ensure the corporation fulfills its mission and public purposes.
Mr Davie’s resignation has increased pressure on the broadcaster amid controversy over its editing of President Trump’s speech in a documentary.
The broadcaster faces backlash over Trump:
“A Second Chance?, a Panorama episode accused of misrepresenting his 6 January 2021 speech.”
What did Alison McGovern say about the BBC and Trump controversy?
UK local government minister Alison McGovern said the BBC should issue an apology to President Trump if it made an editorial mistake, saying, if the corporation “made an editorial mistake then they should apologise.”
She stated,
“I think the BBC is probably choc-full of policies on what they should do when they make editorial mistakes, so I think they should stick to it.”
Ms McGovern said,
“More broadly […] I think if they’ve made errors I think the answer to that is better quality journalism and to invest in that journalism so that we can have the standard of programmes we all want from the BBC.”
The minister added,
“I think that there’s lots of people who work in the BBC, and I’m sure they’ve got all kinds of political opinions. And do you know what? I think that’s none of my business, as long as they do their jobs properly.”
She continued,
“If there has, the answer to that is to get better editing and to invest in quality journalism and sort the problems out. I don’t think we need to have a national meltdown about this.
Ms McGovern said,
“We need to make sure that the BBC, one of our most trusted media organisations, invests in quality journalism and tells the stories that we all want to hear.”
How did Lisa Nandy criticise BBC editorial decisions amid controversy?
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she believes some BBC editorial decisions lack careful consideration and added she has had more discussions with senior executives than she would like.
She said,
“I’ve had countless conversations with the senior leadership… too many to name, and far more than I would like, over the last 15 months since we were elected.”
Ms Nandy added,
“Decisions about editorial standards, editorial guidelines, the sort of language that is used in reporting are entirely inconsistent. It doesn’t always meet the highest standards. It’s not always well thought through, and often it’s left to individual journalists or news readers to make decisions.”
She said the broadcaster is
“Decisions about editorial standards, editorial guidelines, the sort of language that is used in reporting are entirely inconsistent. It doesn’t always meet the highest standards. It’s not always well thought through, and often it’s left to individual journalists or news readers to make decisions.”
The culture secretary continued,
“I was very disappointed recently that Ofcom decided not to proceed with proposals to take action on politicians presenting the news. I am looking, as the culture secretary, at what we can do as a government to deal with this.”
What did Karoline Leavitt say about the BBC and Trump controversy?
Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called the BBC “100% fake news” amid allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
She said,
“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100% fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
Ms Leavitt added,
“Every time I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their blatant propaganda and lies about the president of the United States and all that he’s doing to make America better and the world a safer place.”
What sparked the BBC row over the edited Trump speech?
The controversy emerged after a leaked memo to The Telegraph suggested a current affairs programme “completely misled” viewers by editing two parts of the speech together.
The Panorama episode showed Trump urging supporters to “fight like hell,” but excluded his call for peaceful protest.
The memo reads,
“It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot.”
What happened during the January 6 Capitol riots?
The Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, were a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC, by supporters of President Donald Trump.
The riot was triggered by false claims of election fraud spread by Trump and some allies, inciting his supporters to march to the Capitol.
Five people died directly related to the attack, with hundreds of police officers injured, and some officers dying by suicide in the following months.