Two senior BBC executives resigned on Sunday as the public broadcaster faces one of the most severe crises in recent years over allegations of bias and editorial malpractice.
Director-General Tim Davie, the BBC’s most senior executive, and Deborah Turness, chief executive of the news division, stepped down following the leak of a critical internal memo.
The dossier revealed, among other things, that the BBC had edited a speech by former US President Donald Trump to falsely make it appear he had directly incited violence on January 6, 2021.
In a note to staff on Sunday, Davie said his resignation was “entirely my decision,” adding that as director general, he assumed “ultimate responsibility” for mistakes made by the BBC.
Turness, meanwhile, said the fallout over a documentary produced by the BBC’s Panorama series had “reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love.” She added, “The buck stops with me.”
The resignations followed reporting by the Telegraph newspaper, which detailed a leaked internal BBC dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, an adviser on editorial standards.
Prescott’s whistleblowing memo revealed that last year the BBC had broadcast a “doctored” Trump speech, making it seem that the president had encouraged rioters at the Capitol.
In reality, Trump had said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” not, as edited, that he would “fight like hell” alongside them.
Trump welcomed the resignations and praised the Telegraph for exposing what he called corruption.
“These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election,” he wrote on Truth Social, describing it as a “terrible thing for democracy.”
The controversy drew condemnation from the White House, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the BBC “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine.”
She added that British taxpayers are “forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine.”
On Sunday, Leavitt shared the Telegraph headline on X alongside the BBC’s article announcing Davie’s resignation.
Trump Jr. also weighed in, posting on X, “The FAKE NEWS ‘reporters’ in the UK are just as dishonest and full of s— as the ones here in America!!!!”
UK political figures responded as well. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy thanked Davie for his leadership, noting, “He has led the BBC through a period of significant change and helped the organisation to grip the challenges it has faced in recent years. Now more than ever, the need for trusted news and high quality programming is essential to our democratic and cultural life, and our place in the world.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch echoed support for the resignations but stressed deeper issues, writing on X: “There is a catalogue of serious failures that runs far deeper at the BBC. The new leadership must now deliver genuine reform of the culture of the BBC, top to bottom – because it should not expect the public to keep funding it through a compulsory licence fee unless it can finally demonstrate true impartiality.”
The BBC is funded largely through a £174.50 ($228) annual license fee paid by households that own a television or access its streaming content. As a public broadcaster, it is expected to uphold strict standards of editorial independence and fairness.
The organization has faced repeated controversies over the years. In 2023, chairman Richard Sharp resigned over failing to disclose involvement in a loan to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
That same year, the broadcaster faced a boycott after suspending former soccer star Gary Lineker for criticizing government policy, though he was later reinstated.
In 2012, director general, George Entwistle, resigned after a report falsely implicated a senior politician in a child abuse scandal, while the news director and deputy were temporarily asked to “step aside” over a review related to Jimmy Savile investigations.
Earlier, in 2004, director general Greg Dyke resigned amid pressure over a government inquiry into a Ministry of Defence employee featured in a BBC report.
