Over the weekend, two top BBC workers resigned over a botched edit from one of President Donald Trump‘s speeches. Both the Chief Executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, and the Director General, Tim Davie, resigned.
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They resigned after a botched editing of Trump’s speech by Panorama. Following her resignation, Turness spoke out about quitting. She maintained that the BBC is not “institutionally biased” and one of the “world’s most trusted news providers.”
She said, “Of course, our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality, and I will stand by their journalism.”
Turness went on to explain why she quit the organization.
She said, “I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with our brilliant team of journalists. I stepped down over the weekend because the buck stops with me. But I’d like to make one thing very clear, BBC News is not institutionally biased. That’s why it’s the world’s most trusted news provider.”
Turness was clear about one thing. She said, “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
BBC Under Fire
After the incident came to light, Trump took to social media to blast the outlet. On Truth Social, he wrote, “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.”
He continued, “These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
Meanwhile, BBC chairman Samir Shah also said, “This is a sad day for the BBC. Tim has been an outstanding director-general for the last five years. He has had the full support of me and the board throughout. However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision. The whole board respects the decision and the reasons for it.”