LONDON (AP) — The head of the BBC and the British broadcaster’s head of news resigned on Sunday after criticizing the way U.S. President Donald Trump edited his speeches.
The BBC reported that director general Tim Davie and news CEO Deborah Turness have both decided to leave the company.
Britain’s public broadcaster has been criticized for editing a speech given by President Trump on January 6, 2021, before protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington.
Critics said the way the speech was edited in a BBC documentary last year was misleading, cutting out the part where Trump said he wanted his supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
In a letter to staff, Davie said it was “entirely my decision” to leave the job after five years.
Mr Davey said: “Overall the BBC has done well, but there have been some mistakes and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
“We are coordinating the exact timing with the board to allow for an orderly transition to his successor over the coming months,” he said.
Mr Turness said the controversy surrounding the Trump documentary had “reached a stage where it was damaging the BBC, which I love. As CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, I take responsibility for it.”
“Leaders must be fully accountable in public life, which is why I am resigning,” she said in a memo to staff. “While some mistakes have been made, I want to be clear that recent claims that BBC News is systematically biased are false.”
Pressure has been mounting on the broadcaster’s bosses since the Daily Telegraph published part of a document prepared by Michael Prescott, who was hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.
Similar to the Trump edit, it criticized the BBC’s coverage of transgender issues and raised concerns of anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s Arabic broadcasts.
The BBC’s status as a national institution, funded by an annual license fee of £174.50 ($230) paid by every household that owns a television, has put it under greater scrutiny than other broadcasters, as well as criticism from commercial rivals.
It is also constrained by the terms of its charter to make its outcomes fair, and critics are quick to point out when they think it has failed.
