Deborah Turness, the former BBC News CEO who resigned last year, has defended the broadcaster against claims of anti-Trump bias following a controversial Panorama documentary. The 58-year-old, who led BBC News from 2022 until her resignation, said the issue arose from a “problem with the edit,” not institutional prejudice.
The controversy centered on footage of President Donald Trump’s speech ahead of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. The edited clip made it appear as if Trump urged rioters to “fight like hell,” while in reality, he instructed them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” Trump responded by filing a $10 billion lawsuit in December, alleging defamation and violations of trade practices law.
Turness, who stepped down alongside Director General Tim Davie in November, emphasized that the incident involved a single flawed edit in a year-old documentary and did not reflect the BBC’s overall editorial standards.
“I decided to resign, that was my decision,” Turness said at Semafor’s Trust in Media Summit in Washington DC. “I was running an organization of 6,000 journalists producing content in 42 languages worldwide, and there was a problem with an edit in a Panorama documentary. It wasn’t up to our editorial standards, but I don’t accept the charge that it was a sign of institutional bias.”
The BBC had already apologized for the mistake, describing it as an “error of judgment.” However, Trump claimed the corporation “changed the words coming out of my mouth” and accused the BBC of admitting to cheating.
A subsequent 19-page report by a former member of the BBC’s own standards committee highlighted multiple instances in which the broadcaster’s coverage appeared biased.
Turness also acknowledged that BBC newsrooms tend to lean left politically, noting they do not always reflect the UK’s broader political views. “The BBC will be the last brand standing… without actually taking sides and being trusted by so many people all around the world,” she said. She added, “Do I think that the newsrooms are in lockstep with rapid, sudden social change? No, I don’t.”
