What is the story about?
Two top BBC leaders have resigned amid a growing scandal about bias and fairness over editing of US President Donald Trump's speech. According to media
reports, BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and the head of the news division, Deborah Turness, have quit after a leaked memo sharply criticised the Britain’s public broadcaster. The memo said the BBC had edited a speech by Trump in a misleading way. The clip showed that Trump had directly called for Capitol Hill violence in January 2021.
What Trump Said In Speech?
Trump's speech which is under question was delivered in Washington DC on January 6th, 2021 -- a fortnight before he left the White House following defeat in the 2020 President Elections.
In his speech, Trump had originally said: "We are going to walk down to the Capitol, and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."
However, the Panorama edit showed Trump as saying: "We are going to walk down to the Capitol... and I will be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."
The scandal has pushed BBC into one of its biggest crises in recent years. The broadcaster is expected to issue an apology anytime soon, media reports said.
BBC Confirms Resignations
BBC on its website conformed that Tim Davie and Deborah Turness have resigned after criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a clip from Trump's speech.
Davie, in the job for five years, on Sunday announced that "like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision."
"Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility," he said, as reported by BBC.
Turness said that the Panorama controversy had "reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC".
"In public life leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down. While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong," BBC reported Turness as saying in a statement.
Donald Trump Reacts
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has responded to the resignations, saying "corrupt journalists" had been exposed.
"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. Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt “Journalists.” 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!" he wrote on Truth Social.
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob, said to be the supporters of President Donald Trump, two months after his defeat in the 2020 Presidential Election.
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