Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, and Doborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, have resigned. It follows criticism of how the current affairs programme Panorama misleadingly edited an address by President Trump. It is the latest in a line of crises at the corporation. The departure of the head of the BBC comes at a critical time as it prepares to negotiate with the government over its future and funding.
BBC chairman Samir Shah said that Tim Davie had the full support of the chair and the board throughout, but he understood that the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, had led him to resign. He said: “This is an important time for the corporation and the board and I will continue to work with Tim in the interim while we conduct the process to appoint his successor.”
In a message to staff, Tim Davie wrote: “I have been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the charter plans they will be delivering.”
The last straw in a series of controversies at the BBC came with the publication of a leaked memo suggesting the Panorama programme shown in October 2024 edited a speech by President Trump in such a way that he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.
The problem was not just the editing of the programme, but the suggestion that the senior management were aware of the problem for months but had done nothing about it.
Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, who joined the organisation from ITN in 2022, said: The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC — an institution that I love.”
She offered her resignation to the director general, which was clearly accepted, and “Teflon” Tim Davie recognised that it was finally time for him to go too.
Time Davie had been director general for just over five years, having joined the BBC as director of marketing, communications and audiences from PepsiCo in 2005.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, thanked him for his service, writing: “Now more than ever, the need for trusted news and high quality programming is essential to our democratic and cultural life, and our place in the world.
“As a government, we will support the Board as it manages this transition and ensure that the Charter Review is the catalyst that helps the BBC to adapt to this new era and secures its role at the heart of national life for decades to come.”