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.

[dutchman]

BBC facing ‘fundamental’ overhaul of licence fee



The BBC faces a battle over the TV licence fee within weeks as ministers launch a “fundamental” review of the corporation after claims of bias.

Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, is understood to be planning to launch her consultation on the BBC’s royal charter before Christmas, and will consider wholesale reform of the licence fee as part of a “comprehensive look at the way the BBC operates”.

The once-a-decade charter renewal is expected to focus on providing a “sustainable” funding model and restoring public trust in BBC news content.

The review follows a disastrous week for the BBC, culminating in the resignations of Tim Davie, the director general, and Deborah Turness, the news chief, on Sunday after more revelations in The Telegraph about biased reporting.

A Government source said that after Mr Davie and Ms Turness’s resignations, Labour was planning a major review of the corporation, which could include governance issues and would be “more fundamental than individuals”.

The Government’s consultation, which is in the final stages of drafting by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is due to be launched next month, although sources said the timetable could be pushed back to early next year.

It will explore new ideas to restore public trust in the BBC, as well as various funding schemes, including a part-subscription, part-licence fee model to diversify the corporation’s revenue streams.

Sir John Whittingdale, who presided over the last charter renewal in 2016, said the licence fee was not “sustainable” in the long term, and urged ministers to consider alternatives.

He said: “It is now the reality that each year a number of people stop paying, because they decide they no longer need the BBC because they are accessing all the services they want through streaming services. There is a risk of a tipping point where the steady trickle of people saying they’re not going to pay becomes a flood. We are not there yet, but it is in sight.”

Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture secretary, said: “The BBC’s licence fee is based on the British public’s trust and confidence in the BBC, which is also reliant on impartiality. So if impartiality is jeopardised, then so is the licence fee. There is no simple solution here, but I think it’s a perfectly valid topic for debate, and looking at alternative funding sources is an important part of that.”

The licence fee raised £3.7bn last year, the lowest return for four years, and accounted for 68 per cent of BBC funding. The remainder was raised from advertising outside the UK and other commercial income, including grants, royalties and rents.

The Culture Secretary has previously said she hopes to be “radical” with the licence fee, and declined to rule out a full subscription-based model that would be comparable to streaming services.

Last month, she said she thought a “mixed” model, including an annual payment and elements of subscription-based content could replace the “unenforceable” licence fee.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/10/bbc-licence-fee-review-imminent/

[dutchman]

They say that every ten years and nothing ever comes of it!