A summary of today's developments
Deborah Turness, the outgoing News CEO, has defended the BBC’s journalism, dismissing President Trump’s attack that BBC journalists are corrupt. “Our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hard-working people who strive for impartiality. And I will stand by their journalism,” she said. “There is no institutional bias. Mistakes are made, but there’s no institutional bias.”
The chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, releases the long-awaited letter addressing journalistic errors, including most crucially, the Panorama documentary which spliced together different parts of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech. Shah accepts that the edit gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action” and was “an error of judgment”. He apologises on behalf of the BBC. He also details action taken to address errors made on other stories including Gaza coverage.
Immediately after the letter’s release, the BBC also airs an interview with Shah where he rejects allegations of “systemic bias” and “anti-Israel bias” in the newsroom and says the board is “not overly political”. This comes amid reports, including by the Guardian, of a political campaign orchestrated by enemies within the BBC to bring it down. Shah says he and the board did not want Davie to resign.
US President Donald Trump threatens in a letter to sue the BBC. His lawyers claim that Trump, who was indicted by Congress for efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, has been defamed by the BBC’s Panorama episode. They issue a Friday deadline to the BBC, demanding the news organisation make amends or they will launch a $1bn lawsuit. The BBC says it is reviewing the letter.
Downing Street says the BBC is not corrupt not institutionally biased and plays a vital role in the age of disinformation. The Conservatives and Reform said the BBC has shown bias.
The BBC’s deputy head of news, now temporarily in charge of editorial decisions, sends out an all-staff email announcing a pan-BBC call tomorrow.
A BBC board member with links to the Conservative party “led the charge” in pressuring the corporation’s leadership over claims of systemic bias in coverage of Donald Trump, Gaza and transgender rights, the Guardian has been told. Sources said that Robbie Gibb, Theresa May’s former communications chief who was appointed to the BBC’s board during Boris Johnson’s administration, amplified the criticisms in key board meetings that preceded the shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness. In an article for the Guardian, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, called for Gibb to be removed from the BBC’s board before the search for a new director general begins.
Updated
On a similar theme to the first minister’s comments, the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has penned a piece for the Guardian about Robbie Gibb’s position on the BBC board.
