The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has issued a formal apology to the United States President Donald Trump over a Panorama controversy involving what has now been described as a misleadingly edited clip of his January 6, 2021.
However, the corporation has drawn a line in the sand, rejecting the President’s demand for compensation, which reportedly sought over $1 billion in damages over the Panorama Controversy.
In a statement published in its Corrections and Clarifications section, the BBC admitted that Panorama’s edit “unintentionally created the impression” that Trump had delivered a continuous call to action that implied direct encouragement of violence.
The corporation said the programme would not be rebroadcast and expressed regret for the error.
In a statement, the corporation said lawyers for the BBC have written to Trump’s legal team.
BBC chair Samir Shah has written a personal letter to the White House, “making clear” he and the corporation “are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021”.
“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms,” the statement added.
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
Despite apologising for the Panorama controversy, the BBC insisted there was no legal basis for a defamation claim.
The corporation argued that the documentary was only available in the UK, that the edited excerpt represented 12 seconds of an hour-long programme containing multiple perspectives, and that the segment was shortened for clarity rather than designed to mislead. The BBC also noted that Trump had subsequently been re-elected, which it said undermined any claim of reputational harm.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the latest development comes after the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.
The two BBC Chiefs stepped down on Sunday as pressure mounted over editorial standards and oversight.
Announcing his resignation, Davie said in a statement posted on the BBC website: “Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable.
“While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision… I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
The original speech included Trump telling supporters, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” followed more than 50 minutes later by the separate line, “And we fight. We fight like hell.” Panorama’s edit placed those phrases next to each other, making it appear as a single continuous passage.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the two resignations follow a Daily Telegraph report that said concerns were first raised in the summer in a leaked memo on impartiality by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Prescott criticised the editing of a speech by Donald Trump in an edition of Panorama, which he claimed made it appear that Trump had encouraged the US Capitol attack.
Trump, speaking to Fox News, said the edit had “butchered” his remarks and “defrauded” viewers. His lawyers demanded a retraction, an apology, and compensation for the alleged damage caused.
