7 h. ago Donald Trump says he has ‘obligation’ to sue BBC over speech edit – latest updates

US president claims broadcaster has ‘defrauded the public’ and reiterates his threat of launching a $1bn legal actionDonald Trump has grabbed the headlines after threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn (£760m) for what the corporation has accepted was a misleading edit of his speech on 6 January 2021 during the Capitol Hill insurrection.I wouldn’t want a board that’s guilty of groupthink, but the opposite of groupthink is different points of view. That makes the job of the chair challenging to try and organise and get consensus, but it’s important that people have a diversity of opinion on the board. Continue reading...

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24 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’

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25 h. ago The ‘legal trip wires’ facing Trump in threatened $1bn legal action against the BBC

The US president’s lawyers say legal action will be launched if the BBC fails to comply on demands over a Panorama documentary aired last year - but how likely is it a case will be launched, and the US president would win?

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27 h. ago BBC boss Tim Davie warns staff to not let narrative be 'given by enemies' amid Trump threat

As Donald Trump threatens the BBC with billion-dollar legal action in a row over 'editing', Beeb director-general Tim Davie has spoken to staff ahead of his departure

Events

27 h. ago Tim Davie's final message to BBC staff after humiliating exit over Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has threatened legal action if the corporation does not retract “false” and “defamatory” statements made about him in a documentary.

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41 h. ago BBC ‘can’t be held to ransom,’ says David Dimbleby as Donald Trump threatens legal action over Panorama

The BBC “can’t be held to ransom,” David Dimbleby said after Donald Trump 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.

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44 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 ...

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47 h. ago Donald Trump threatens legal action against BBC over Panorama documentary speech edit

The US President addressed the controversy on social media over the weekend

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47 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 ...

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47 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.

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48 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...

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49 h. ago Donald Trump threatens legal action against BBC following documentary editing row

Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC after the broadcaster issued a grovelling apology for editing one of his speeches in a Panorama documentary

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49 h. ago Trump threatens to sue 'BBC for $1bn' if it does not respond in four days

Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC after the broadcaster issued a grovelling apology for editing one of his speeches in a Panorama documentary as the US president sets a deadline

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49 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

49 h. ago Donald Trump threatens BBC with legal action as chair says edit of speech in film was ‘error of judgment’ – latest updates

BBC confirms it has received legal letter from US president threatening legal caseWe 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 our brilliant team of journalists.I stepped down over th...

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49 h. ago Donald Trump threatens legal action against BBC over Panorama scandal: Live updates

LIVE UPDATES: Follow the latest fallout from the BBC as director-general Tim Davie and chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness both resign amid a series of crises at the corporation.

Politics

49 h. ago Trump threatens BBC with $1bn legal action over edit of speech in documentary

Leaked BBC report said film had ‘completely misled’ viewers by splicing two parts of January 6 speech togetherDonald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC and welcomed the resignations of two of its most senior figures after a campaign against the broadcaster that reached fever pitch over criticism that its flagship documentary programme in 2024 used a misleading edit of a Trump speech.Lawyers for the US president said that the BBC must retract the Panorama documentary by Friday or face a lawsuit for “no less” than $1bn (£760m), according to US media outlets who cited the letter. The BBC has confirmed it had received a letter and said it will respond in due course. Continue reading...

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50 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'.

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50 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

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51 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'

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