18 h. ago Every time Trump has sued the media after he threatens $1 billion BBC legal action

BBC chair Samir Shah called the American leader a ‘litigious fellow’

Politics

39 h. ago The Guardian view on the BBC under siege: Britain must defend its own truth | Editorial

With Donald Trump circling and Labour ministers wavering, defending the corporation’s independence is now a test of national willThe chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, struck a defensive tone in his interview to explain the mess the broadcaster has found itself in. The impression was of an organisation under siege rather than one confidently self-correcting. Mr Shah will be busy. He must find a new director general after Tim Davie resigned. Gone too is the CEO of news, Deborah Turness. Both resigned after an exhausting rightwing campaign which cried bias at every turn and was energised by an absurd transatlantic attempt to paint the BBC as part of a global liberal conspiracy.A giant like the BBC will make mistakes. The failure is not owning them fast enough and moving on. The corporation remains one of Britain’s few genuinely national institutions – and ministers say it is a “light on the hill” for people here and abroad. The BBC is the most trusted source of news in ...

Politics

42 h. ago Donald Trump threatens BBC with $1bn lawsuit as chair says speech edit was ‘error of judgment’ – latest updates

BBC chair Samir Shah apologises for way in which speech from US president was edited after corporation’s two most senior executives resignWe have heard from Culture, Media and Sport committee chair Caroline Dinenage, who has suggested that the outgoing BBC director Tim Davie ignored an internal dossier into bias at the BBC (see post at 09.06 for more detail on the dossier).She said Davie “ignored” concerns raised in Michael Prescott’s report over the way the speech by Donald Trump was edited for Panorama.I’m very sad about Tim Davie stepping down. I think he was an effective leader at the BBC.I think he was a great champion for public service media, but there is no escaping the fact that he was very slow to act on this particular issue. But this isn’t the first time and on this particular issue, Michael Prescott’s report, he just didn’t take it seriously until it was too late.I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with ...

Politics

42 h. ago BBC Chair Samir Shah considering how to respond to ‘litigious fellow’ Trump

BBC chair Samir Shah has said he is considering how to respond to "litigious fellow" Donald Trump after the US president threatened legal action against the broadcaster following the selective editing of his speech outside the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in a Panorama episode.

Politics

42 h. ago If you care about the BBC, stand up and defend it: this could be the beginning of the end | Polly Toynbee

Replacing the TV licence with a means-tested alternative may help disarm the right of one of its most effective weaponsGotcha! The BBC’s enemies have taken two scalps and inflicted maximum damage. The shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of news, Deborah Turness, make it look as if the BBC accepts that it does indeed suffer from “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. But in this political coup, only the BBC’s sworn ideological foes think a cherrypicked sample of journalistic errors amounts to “systemic” bias.It was indeed a bad mistake to splice together two bits of Trump’s speech; but it needed a quick apology, not a decapitation. The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, I’m told, tried to persuade Davie to stay to avoid this apparent capitulation to critics: Davie should indeed have stood his ground, not weakened the BBC by walking away.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

44 h. ago Trump threatens legal action against the BBC as defiant chair Samir Shah fails to apologise to him and insists corporation is NOT institutionally biased

Samir Shah said he accepted that the way the US president's address was edited wrongly gave the impression that he had issued a 'direct call for violent action'.

Events

45 h. ago BBC chair Samir Shah apologises for 'error of judgment' over Panorama doctoring of Trump speech and considers contacting US president directly to say sorry

Samir Shah said he accepted that the way the US president's address was edited wrongly gave the impression that he had issued a 'direct call for violent action'.

Politics

45 h. ago BBC chair Samir Shah criticises leaked memo that led to bosses’ resignation

Corporation head adds he is considering personal apology to ‘litigious’ Trump

Politics

45 h. ago BBC chair Samir Shah calls Trump video edit an 'error of judgement' after 500 complaints

The chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, has apologised for an 'error of judgement' after a speech by Donald Trump was edited for Panorama. The president slammed the corporation and claimed its journalists were 'corrupt'

Politics

3 w. ago Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fillHolding court for the cameras in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, a manically self-congratulatory Donald Trump, Gaza’s make-believe saviour, hailed his fellow “tough guys” – tame tyrants, such as Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who helped fabricate his flimsy Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.Yet later this month, the American pharaoh-president is due to face a far less biddable tough guy: China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Bookmakers may withhold odds on the outcome. In the US-China race for 21st-century primacy, Xi is sprinting ahead, assisted by spur-heeled Trump’s many missteps.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Keir kisses the ring: Starmer joins queue of fellow world leaders waiting to shake hands with Donald Trump at Gaza peace summit after US president oversees ceasefire agreement

The Prime Minister was among those who lined up for pictures with the US President after Donald Trump oversaw a Middle East ceasefire agreement.

Politics