Explained: Trump Panorama Controversy That Led To Top BBC Executives Resigning

BBC Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday amid controversy over a Panorama documentary linked to United States President Donald Trump. The documentary by its flagship Panorama programme, titled Trump: A Second Chance?, has drawn criticism for allegedly misleading viewers.

The controversy came to light after a leaked memo published by The Telegraph revealed that two separate parts of Donald Trump’s January 2021 speech were edited to make it appear he "explicitly encouraged" the Capitol riots.

Davie admitted mistakes were made and said he must take full responsibility. Trump has welcomed their resignations.

The issue began when The Telegraph revealed details from a leaked internal BBC memo.

The memo by Michael Prescott,a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's editorial standards committee, accused Panorama of misleading editing in its documentary Trump: A Second Chance?’ It was made by October Films Ltd. and broadcast last year. Prescott left the role in June.

Prescott’s memo said the film edited parts of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech. It said the speech was edited in a way to make it look like he encouraged the Capitol riots.

Trump’s original speech included the line, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

However, Panorama’s version combined two separate clips, more than 50 minutes apart, to show Trump saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol... and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The edit gave the impression that Trump urged violence directly.

Tim Davie became BBC director general in September 2020, while Deborah Turness has led BBC News since 2022.

The US President welcomed the resignations of Davie and Turness and thanked The Telegraph for its report.

He posted on his Truth Social platform, "The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.”

"Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these "Corrupt Journalists.” These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!" the US President added.

The Capitol riots pertain to the Jan. 6, 2021, violence when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, the seat of Congress, attempting to overturn his election defeat.