Two BBC News Execs Resign Over Doctored Trump Video Edit

The BBC's Director-General Tim Davie and its top news executive Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday following intense criticism over the broadcaster's editing of a 2021 speech by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, which critics argue misleadingly omitted his call for peaceful protest.

The resignations, announced by the BBC, come in the wake of backlash against a documentary aired last year that featured a selectively edited version of Trump's January 6, 2021, address at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.—delivered hours before a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. 

The edited clip excluded Trump's explicit instruction to demonstrators to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," prompting accusations of bias and distortion from conservative commentators, politicians, and media watchdogs.

In a brief statement, the BBC confirmed that both Davie, who has led the corporation since 2020, and Turness, the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, had "decided to leave" their roles. No immediate replacements were named, and the broadcaster did not elaborate on whether the departures were voluntary or prompted by internal pressure. 

The BBC has faced mounting scrutiny over impartiality in recent years, with this incident amplifying calls for reform from government officials and license fee payers.

The controversy centers on a BBC documentary that revisited the events of January 6, using footage from Trump's speech to illustrate claims of incitement. Critics, including former BBC journalists and U.K. MPs, highlighted that the omission created a false narrative by removing context that showed

Trump urging non-violence alongside his rhetoric about "fighting like hell." 

An internal review, details of which have not been publicly released, reportedly found editorial lapses but stopped short of admitting deliberate misinformation.

Davie, a former marketing executive at PepsiCo before joining the BBC, had been tasked with restoring public trust amid previous scandals involving high-profile presenters. Turness, previously president of NBC News, oversaw the network's global news operations. 

Their exits mark a significant leadership shakeup at Britain's publicly funded broadcaster, which relies on an annual license fee from U.K. households and employs over 20,000 staff.