Heads of BBC and BBC News both sacked...

[dutchman]

Director-general quits after Telegraph revealed broadcaster misled viewers



Tim Davie has resigned as director-general of the BBC after a Telegraph investigation into bias at the broadcaster.

Mr Davie had been under pressure to quit after a 19-page memo revealed that a speech by Donald Trump which made him appear to encourage the Capitol Riot was doctored.

It also revealed anti-Israel bias at the broadcaster as well as claims gender-critical issues had been downplayed.

Deborah Turness, the broadcaster’s CEO of News, has also resigned.

Mr Davie said it was “entirely” his decision” to leave the BBC after 20 years and he would work with the BBC’s board to “allow for an orderly transition to a successor”.

In a message to staff on Sunday afternoon, Mr Davie also defended the BBC saying it was unique and represented the “best of us” but needed to be accountable.

Over the past week The Telegraph has disclosed the broadcaster’s one-sided reporting over Gaza, censorship of the trans debate and doctoring of a speech by Donald Trump.

On Monday, the BBC is expected to apologise for the misleading editing of the Trump speech in a Panorama documentary, one of the incidents unveiled in the memo.

Samir Shah, the chairman, will write to the culture, media and sport committee to express regret for the way the speech, made on the day of the Jan 6 2021 Capitol riot, was spliced together.

The Telegraph has previously disclosed that both Mr Davie and Mr Shah were warned of the doctored footage in May but appear to have kept quiet.

The decision to issue an apology has raised questions about why it has taken them six months to admit viewers were misled.

On Friday night, the White House accused the BBC of “purposeful dishonesty”, claiming it was a “Leftist propaganda machine”.

In an email sent to news staff on the same evening, Ms Turness, the chief executive of BBC News and Current Affairs, appeared to lay the ground for the apology.

Hours before Mr Davie’s resignation Lisa Nandy attacked the BBC’s “entirely inconsistent” reporting standards.

On Sunday, the Culture Secretary claimed the BBC’s editorial decisions were not always “well thought through” and fell short of the “highest” expectations.

She said: “My concern about what is happening at the BBC is twofold. I’ve had countless conversations with the senior leadership there, too many to name, and far more than I would like, over the last 15 months since we were elected.

“The first concern that I have is that in all of these areas, whether it’s Israel, Gaza, whether it’s the concerns that were raised this week about the way they report on trans people, or on this issue about President Trump, that what tends to happen at the BBC is that decisions about editorial standards, editorial guidelines, the sort of language that is used in reporting, is entirely inconsistent.

“It doesn’t always meet the highest standards.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/09/tim-davie-to-resign-bbc/

[rebbonk]

Good riddance!

[dutchman]

It's still rotten to the core though!

Sacking a couple of heads won't change that.

[rebbonk]

Agreed, but it is a small step in the right direction.

[dutchman]

If the government was serious about taking action against the BBC they would have cancelled the forthcoming TV License fee increase.

That they haven't speaks volumes.