Posted in: BBC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: bbc, opinion, trump

BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Edit, Doesn't Plan on Writing Him a Check

The BBC apologized to Donald Trump for its "error of judgement" in how it edited his words, but stopped short of breaking out its checkbook.

Before we offer an update, let's get you up to speed. Donald Trump and his legal team are threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion over how the BBC edited Trump's words for the 2024 Panorama film, "Trump: A Second Chance." Spotlighting Trump's role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots in Washington, DC, the doc claimed Trump said, "We're gonna walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you and we'll fight. We fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore." In reality, Trump said, "We're gonna walk down, and I'll be there with you, we're gonna walk down, we're gonna walk down any one you want but I think right here, we're gonna walk down to the Capitol and we're gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen." The resulting scandal would lead to the resignations of BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Deborah Turness. In addition, BBC Chair Samir Shah has apologised for what was referred to as an "error of judgment," while Turness took responsibility, while also defending the journalistic integrity of the BBC.

Meanwhile, Trump's legal team demanded that the BBC "immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements made about President Trump, which were published in a Panorama documentary that was fabricated and aired by the BBC" in a legal filing, with Trump threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion. In addition, a statement released by Trump's side added, "The BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential Election. President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception, and fake news," read a statement from Trump's camp, which gave the BBC until this Friday, November 14, at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT to respond.

Earlier today, the BBC issued an apology to Trump and his legal team, noting, "we accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action." Once again referring to the move as an "error of judgement," the BBC added that the documentary would not be rebroadcast "in this form on any BBC platforms."

In addition, a spokesperson noted that the BBC had responded in writing to the letter it received from Trump's legal team. "BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme," they said. After reiterating that Trump: A Second Chance? would no longer be broadcast on any BBC platforms, the rep added, "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."

The apology comes at the same time that the media corporation was accused of another misleading edit of Trump's January 6th speech, this one taking place in 2022 during Newsnight. A BBC spokesperson stated that the BBC holds itself to the "highest editorial standards" and that the matter is being investigated. Here's what was listed on the BBC website's "Corrections and Clarifications" page:

Panorama – Trump: A Second Chance?
28 October 2024

This programme was reviewed after criticism of how President Donald Trump's 6th January 2021 speech was edited.

During that sequence, we showed excerpts taken from different parts of the speech.

However, we accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.

The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgement.

This programme was not scheduled to be re-broadcast and will not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms.

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