Donald Trump is at the center of a reputational crisis involving the BBC, one of the most trusted news brands in the world. A ten-second clip of Trump, that aired on BBC’s flagship Panorama show, has caused a massive uproar and outrage across the political spectrum. Deborah Turness, the departing head of BBC News, confessed that this omission has dealt a serious blow to the BBC’s credibility. Accordingly, she has made the difficult decision to resign.
The controversy stems from a twelve-second clip broadcast during a Panorama episode titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” This footage is from the speech that Trump gave on January 6, 2021. He addressed the Ellipse park near the White House as Congress was in the process of certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. In his campaign launch speech, Trump promised to “fight like hell,” encouraging his supporters to be violent.
In particular, the choice of cut clip stitched together two different quotes from Trump to create an apparently misleading impression. Trump’s words included statements such as, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” and “We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Critics say that the aggressive editing changed the context of his message.
After the Panorama episode aired, Trump himself responded with a threat of legal action against the BBC. He required that they withdraw the documentary, publish an apology, and pay him damages for the supposed injury. His lawyer’s released a statement saying they were left no choice but to sue. For their part, they are demanding no less than $1 billion, close to ~$1.5 billion in today’s dollars.
The BBC is currently recruiting a new director of news. This is in response to the current crisis and immediate situation and perhaps even more so by Turness’s sudden departure. Turness acknowledged the impact of the controversy, stating that it has “reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC.” Meanwhile, BBC Director-General Tim Davie noted that while “overall the BBC is delivering well, there have been some mistakes made.”
As a result, the politically explosive situation has attracted the interest of political figures. As Nigel Farage astutely observed, “millions” of Britons have already decided to stop paying the BBC license fee. They are doing this because they think BBC’s coverage has been unbalanced. Farage lambasted the agency for making what he called a “very anti-Trump move.”
Fears about the BBC’s coverage go far beyond this one event. A memo highlighted issues with how the network addressed Trump’s presidency, particularly regarding topics of racism and immigration within its programming. As part of an effort to address these controversies and restore public trust, media analysts suggest that the BBC needs to appoint a leader who can implement significant changes.
