LONDON — The BBC has issued a public apology to US President Donald Trump for misleading editing of his speech on 6 January 2021, but said it “strongly disagrees that there is a cause of action for libel”.
Since its creation more than a century ago, the British public broadcaster was no stranger to controversy. Last week it became embroiled in one of its deepest crises ever: its CEO resigned, its news chief resigned, questions were raised about the veracity of its journalism and Trump said he was thinking about it billion dollar lawsuit.
Here's what you need to know.
Pressure on the TV company intensifies since the right-wing Daily Telegraph published parts of a dossier compiled by the BBC's standards and guidelines adviser on November 3.
As well as criticizing the BBC's coverage of transgender issues and raising concerns about anti-Israel bias in the BBC Arabic service, the dossier states that an episode of the BBC's flagship current affairs series Panorama entitled Trump: A Second Chance? — the broadcast a few days before the 2024 US presidential election was misleading.
Specifically, it showed how the third-party production company behind the film combined three quotes from two sections of the January 6, 2021 speech into one quote in which Trump urged his supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.”
In doing so, it appeared as if Trump had given his supporters the green light to storm the US Capitol as Congress prepared to certify President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 election victory, which Trump had falsely confirmed. supposedly stolen from him.
The outrage from opponents of the BBC – and there are many of them both in Britain and abroad – was immediate and loud.
The broadcaster, which is funded by an annual license fee of £174.50 ($230) paid by all British households that watch live TV or any BBC content, have been accused of bias against Trump, which they say is a symptom of the organisation's inherent liberal bias.
The BBC said very little for several days, saying it did not report the leaked messages. Many saw this as a misjudgment because it allowed opponents to drive the narrative of the editing.
By 9 November the pressure on the BBC was becoming increasingly acute, prompting it top manager Tim Davey and news director Deborah Turness to resign due to what the broadcaster called an “error of judgment.”
It also emerged that Trump was demanding a retraction, an apology and compensation for the episode. “I think I'll have to,” Trump said when asked whether he would follow through on his legal threat. “Because I think they deceived the public and admitted it.”
Trump set a deadline of Friday 14 November for the BBC to respond to his challenge.
Although the BBC said earlier this week that the edited part of the program was an “error of judgement”, it did not directly apologize to Trump until Thursday evening.
In the statementIt said its chairman Samir Shah had personally sent a letter through his chairman's letter about the misleading editorial, but said it had not discredited him.
While the BBC's statement does not address Trump's demand for compensation for his “enormous financial and reputational damage,” the headline of the news article about the apology states that the company has refused to pay compensation.
The US President has yet to respond to the BBC's apology and rejection of his demands for compensation.
Legal experts said Trump would face problems taking the case to court in Britain or the United States. They said the BBC could prove Trump was not harmed as he was ultimately elected president in 2024.
While many legal experts have dismissed the president's claims against the media as ill-founded, he has won several lucrative lawsuits against US media companies and may try to use the BBC's mistake to make a payment, perhaps to a charity of his choice.
However this latest crisis unfolds in the days and weeks ahead, the heat at the BBC will continue, especially in its newsrooms, where any mistake or perceived bias is sure to be picked up by opponents.
As a public broadcaster, the BBC must be impartial in its coverage of news events. It's a fine balance that often gets the BBC into trouble. Some think it leans too far to the right, while others think it goes the other way. Whatever the truth, many believe that the BBC is often bullied in its reporting, especially on domestic political issues.
He not only needs to find a new CEO and head of news, but also negotiate. his future with the government.
The centre-left Labor government, considered one of the most pro-BBC political parties in the UK, will soon begin a once-a-decade process to review the BBC's governing charter, which expires at the end of 2027.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government would ensure “sustainable funding (and) the BBC enjoys public confidence” but did not say whether the license fee could be cut or scrapped.
