BBC Panorama editors were unaware of the way Donald Trump’s speech had been “doctored” when they signed off the programme, according to reports.
Director-general Tim Davie and his head of news Deborah Turness quit on Sunday amid a scandal over the editing of Trump address to crowds before Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
The US President Trump told Fox News the BBC “defrauded the public” and that he had an “obligation” to launch a $1billion lawsuit.
Two sections of his speech were spliced together and gave the impression that he made a “direct call for violent action” in the 2024 documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, BBC chairman Samir Shah said on Monday.
The Times reports the edit was first exposed by David Grossman, a BBC editorial adviser, who flagged it to the editorial guidelines and standards committee in January as part of a 45-page comprehensive report on coverage of the US election.
Sources speculated “forensic” Grossman only spotted the cut that others had missed because his previous role as Newsnight’s US correspondent meant he was in Washington for the speech.
Had he not noticed the mistake, the BBC director-general and its news boss would still be in post.
One individual close to the film said: “It was a sliding doors moment.”
A leaked memo by Michael Prescott, an ex-corporation external adviser, then put the error in the publis domain.
The Times added the show was produced by an in-house BBC team with October Films, an Emmy and Bafta award-winning producer.
Under the terms of an agreement the BBC appointed an experienced in-house producer-director to work on it alongside a BBC visual editor.
The pair created the film, making the decision to splice together the speech sections in good faith.
According to Shah their aim was to help “convey [the speech’s] message so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump's supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time”.
But they opted against informing the programme’s executive producers at the BBC and October Films, as well as the Panorama editor, Karen Wightman, of their decision, the newspaper said.
It aired in October last year and remained on BBC iPlayer for 12 months without any complaints.
A source close to the programme said October Films remained unaware about the doctored edit until reports surfaced last week.
The source said: “There was no discussion, no indication at all that it had been spliced together from two different sections.
“Had they known then they would have insisted that it be changed or the gap clearly been flagged.”
