The Director General of Great Britain bbcTim Davie and executive news director Deborah Turness resigned following criticism of the corporation’s bias, including the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.
He bbc has been embroiled in a series of accusations that he had failed to maintain political neutrality in his reporting, including his coverage of Trump, the war between Israel and Hamas and transgender issues.
In the most recent controversy, The daily telegraph had reported for days on an internal document prepared by a former bbc standards advisor who had listed a series of errors, including the way a Trump speech on January 6, 2021, was edited.
The document suggested that the flagship program ‘Panorama’ had edited two parts of Trump’s speech together, thus appearing to encourage the January 2021 Capitol riots.
“This is entirely my decision, and I remain very grateful to the president and board of directors for their unwavering and unanimous support throughout my tenure, including over the past few days,” Davie said in a statement.
“I have been reflecting on the intense personal and professional demands of managing this role for many years in these feverish times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the Charter plans they will deliver.”
Trump in the bbc A documentary was shown telling his followers that “we are going to walk to the Capitol” and that they would “fight like hell,” a comment he made in a different part of his speech.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, described the bbc as “100 percent fake news” and “propaganda machine” in an interview published Friday.
Davie will remain for the next few months while a replacement is found. A person familiar with the situation said Davie’s decision had left the bbc board stunned by movement.
