Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC, following criticism over how a speech the US president made was edited and used in a Panorama documentary.<\/p>\n
His legal team has given the BBC a deadline of 14 November to make a \u201cfull and fair retraction\u201d of the documentary – or face being sued for $1bn (\u00a3760m).<\/p>\n
A leaked internal BBC memo said the show had misled viewers by splicing two parts of Trump\u2019s 6 January 2021 speech together, making it appear as though he was explicitly urging people to attack the US Capitol after his election defeat.<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s outgoing news CEO Deborah Turness insisted the corporation was not \u201cinstitutionally biased\u201d, after her resignation alongside director general Tim Davie.<\/p>\n
Their resignations came on Sunday after mounting pressure following the publication last week by the Telegraph of a memo written by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster\u2019s editorial standards committee.<\/p>\n
The memo accuses the BBC of issues within its Gaza coverage, anti-Trump and anti-Israel bias and one-sided transgender reporting – among other \u201ctroubling matters\u201d. It also highlights the Panorama edit.<\/p>\n
On Monday, BBC chair Samir Shah accepted an \u201cerror of judgement\u201d had been made on the documentary and that the edited speech gave the impression of a \u201cdirect call for action\u201d – and said the BBC would like to apologise for it.<\/p>\n
But responding to a letter from the Culture Media and Sport Committee, he said it was \u201csimply not true\u201d the memo had uncovered issues the BBC had \u201csought to bury\u201d – nor was it correct to suggest the BBC had done nothing to tackle concerns raised in the memo.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s letter, which the BBC received on Sunday, calls for an apology and for the corporation to \u201cappropriately compensate\u201d the president.<\/p>\n
It accuses the BBC of making \u201cfalse, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements\u201d about him.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s attorney Alejandro Brito also accused the BBC of defamation under Florida law.<\/p>\n
In his letter to the parliamentary committee, Shah said the BBC had received more than 500 complaints since the memo\u2019s publication.<\/p>\n
The Panorama edit had been discussed by the BBC\u2019s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee in January and May this year as part of a wider review of the corporation\u2019s US election coverage, he said.<\/p>\n
Prescott and some committee members voiced concern about it then, he added.<\/p>\n
Shah added he \u201calso heard from BBC News that the purpose of editing the clip was to convey the message of the speech\u201d.<\/p>\n
This was so Panorama\u2019s audience \u201ccould better understand how it had been received by President Trump\u2019s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time\u201d.<\/p>\n
The point was not pursued further \u201cgiven it had not attracted significant audience feedback and had been transmitted before the US election,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWith hindsight, it would have been better to take more formal action.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Trump\u2019s speech on 6 January 2021, he said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we\u2019re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Panorama programme, he was shown saying: \u201cWe\u2019re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I\u2019ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two sections that were stitched together were originally more than 50 minutes apart.<\/p>\n
Davie said on Sunday that the \u201ccurrent debate\u201d around the corporation was not the only reason for his decision to step down, but \u201cunderstandably contributed\u201d to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turness, who has overseen news and current affairs programming since 2022, said on Monday in her first public remarks since announcing she was stepping down that the corporation was \u201cnot institutionally biased\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMistakes are made\u201d but the BBC\u2019s journalists are \u201chardworking people who strive for impartiality,\u201d she told reporters outside the broadcaster\u2019s London headquarters.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister did not believe the BBC was \u201cinstitutionally biased\u201d.<\/p>\n
No 10 also denied the BBC was \u201ccorrupt\u201d – a word Trump used to describe some of its journalists.<\/p>\n
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said there had been \u201cserious questions to answer for a long time\u201d within the BBC and said the documentary incident was a \u201creal problem\u201d.<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said Trump wants to \u201cdestroy the BBC and take our money\u201d, and accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of \u201cegging him on\u201d.<\/p>\n
Farage said he spoke with Trump on Friday, telling a London press conference: \u201cHe just said to me: \u2018Is this how you treat your best ally?\u2019\u201c.<\/p>\n
Prescott had also expressed concerns about a lack of action to address what he described as \u201csystemic problems\u201d of bias in BBC Arabic\u2019s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.<\/p>\n
And he raised concerns about the broadcaster\u2019s coverage of trans issues, suggesting it was effectively \u201ccensored\u201d by specialist LGBT reporters who promoted a pro-trans agenda.<\/p>\n
Shah\u2019s letter noted these issues had been discussed by the editorial standards committee, including concerns regarding BBC Arabic.<\/p>\n
He said that a review of sex and gender identity coverage noted \u201cmuch of the coverage met the BBC\u2019s standards of impartiality and accuracy\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the committee \u201caccepts that there are occasions when the BBC gets things wrong\u201d and takes action when necessary, including disciplinary measures, updating guidelines and issuing corrections.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Prescott may have judged that these individual actions were not sufficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is his opinion – and it is of course for him to form that judgement. However, it is not true to say that concerns have been ignored or action not taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with the BBC\u2019s culture editor Katie Razzall, Shah insisted it was \u201csimply not true\u201d the organisation has done nothing to tackle problems, citing action taken at the BBC Arabic service and long form journalism unit.<\/p>\n
He also defended the BBC against allegations of having \u201canti-Israel\u201d bias in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.<\/p>\n
He said various issues raised by Prescott were being taken seriously and that included \u201cindividual mistakes and underlying problems\u201d, adding that action is and had been taken on both – but rejected claims of systemic bias.<\/p>\n
The US president has a long history of launching, or threatening, legal action against media outlets, with various outcomes.<\/p>\n
In July, the BBC\u2019s US partner CBS News and its parent company Paramount settled for $16 million (\u00a313.5m) after legal action by Trump, who alleged deceptive editing of an interview with then vice-president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.<\/p>\n
The New York Times, CNN and the Des Moines Register have also faced legal action from Trump.<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n
–Agencies<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC, following criticism over how a speech the US president made was edited and used in a Panorama documentary. His legal team has given the BBC a deadline of 14 November to make a \u201cfull and fair retraction\u201d of the documentary – or face being sued for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n