The BBC is set to apologise for editing a speech made by US president Donald Trump in a Panorama episode after facing a backlash – as a government minister said decisions at the broadcaster are “not always well thought through”.
The corporation was accused of misleading viewers in a Panorama episode by selectively editing a speech made by Mr Trump ahead of the Capitol riots in 2021, according to a leaked memo.
The spliced footage showed Mr Trump urging his supporters to “fight like hell” before the riots, but omitted a section where he told the crowd “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.
BBC chair Samir Shah is expected to apologise for the editing choice, in response to a request from parliament’s culture, media and sport committee, which said that there were “serious questions to answer”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC chairman will provide a full response to the culture, media and sport committee on Monday.”
The leaked extract of the memo read: “It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot.”
Asked about the row on Sunday, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said decisions about editorial standards at the broadcaster are “not always well thought through”, saying she has had “far more [conversations] than I would like” with senior leadership since the Labour government was elected.
The leaked memo was first reported by The Telegraph and is said to have been written by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee. Mr Prescott, who left the role earlier this year, has not publicly commented on the leak.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, head of the culture committee, wrote in the letter to the BBC requesting a response: “The corporation must set the benchmark for accurate and fair reporting, especially in a media landscape where it is all too easy to find news presented in a less than impartial way.
“The committee needs to be reassured that those at the very top of the BBC are treating these issues with the seriousness they deserve and taking decisive steps to uphold the corporation’s reputation for integrity and public trust.”
A BBC spokesperson said previously of the leak: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback, it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.
“Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.”
On Saturday, Karoline Leavitt provided the Trump administration’s first response to the row as she accused the corporation of being “100 per cent fake news” and a “leftist propaganda machine”.
Asked about the row, Ms Nandy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuensssberg: “I've had countless conversations with the senior leadership... too many to name, and far more than I would like, over the last 15 months since we were elected.
“Decisions about editorial standards, editorial guidelines, the sort of language that is used in reporting are entirely inconsistent. It doesn’t always meet the highest standards. It’s not always well thought through, and often it’s left to individual journalists or news readers to make decisions.”
She also said the broadcaster is “operating in a news media environment where news and fact are often blurred with polemic and opinion, and I think that is creating a very, very dangerous environment in this country where people can’t trust what they see”.
Ms Nandy added: “I was very disappointed recently that Ofcom decided not to proceed with proposals to take action on politicians presenting the news. I am looking, as the culture secretary, at what we can do as a government to deal with this.”
A spat has since erupted between Boris Johnson and BBC presenter Nick Robinson after the former prime minister accused the broadcaster of “arrogance”.
In a post on X/Twitter, Robinson responded: “Hands up all those who think (Boris Johnson) is well placed to lecture anyone else on upholding standards (and) admitting mistakes.”
More than 2,000 people stormed the Capitol building on 6 January 2021 as a joint session of Congress took place to formalise US president Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections.
The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
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