The response was ready to go.
After furious headlines in a British newspaper accused the BBC of institutional bias over a misleading edit of a speech by President Trump, top executives at the British public broadcaster knew they had to act quickly.
On Tuesday, Nov. 4, a day after the first article had appeared online, they were prepared to go public with a statement approved by the BBC’s top communications team and the director general, Tim Davie. It would acknowledge that Panorama, the flagship investigative program, had made a mistake by splicing together footage from Mr. Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before an attack on the Capitol.
To their frustration, the executives, including the head of news, Deborah Turness, found themselves blocked by the BBC board, according to four BBC executives and another senior employee with knowledge of the events. News executives and board members were divided over whether to focus on the editing error, or to concede wider failings in the newsroom.
Instead of addressing the criticism, the BBC was silent for seven days. In the vacuum, a wave of headlines became a flood of unchallenged claims that eventually pulled in the White House, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt declaring the BBC “total, 100 percent fake news.” By the time the broadcaster issued a statement, the scandal had engulfed the organization and prompted the resignations of Mr. Davie and Ms. Turness.
The story of how the BBC careened into one of the worst crises in its 103-year history may have centered on the editing of President Trump’s remarks. But it was about something much bigger: a longstanding debate, often driven by the right, over whether the BBC is institutionally biased.
