CNN's Brian Stelter calls BBC bosses’ resignations over Trump speech edit 'quite unusual'

WASHINGTON, DC: CNN’s Brian Stelter can’t quite believe that the BBC’s higher-ups are packing their bags.

The publicly-funded British broadcaster’s two biggest names, Director General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness, have both resigned after a controversy over a misleading edit in a documentary about President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech.

Stelter summed it up on 'CNN Newsroom' with Fredricka Whitfield as “quite unusual.”

BBC's 'fake news' edit blows up

It all started with the BBC’s flagship news program 'Panorama' and a seemingly doctored edit they aired. The documentary was aired before the 2024 election and stitched together two different moments from Trump’s January 6th remarks at The Ellipse. The edit made it seem like Trump was telling his supporters to “fight like hell” and storm the Capitol.

In reality, Trump said he’d “walk with them to the Capitol to cheer on Republican lawmakers.” He never did that walk, but the BBC’s edit made it sound like a call to arms. It all blew up when a British newspaper got its hands on an internal memo describing the “misleading edit."

The leak triggered outrage on both sides of the pond. Trump allies and conservative commentators quickly piled on. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled the BBC “fake news.”

In a statement released by the BBC, Director General Davie said he was taking “ultimate responsibility” for the “mistakes” made. Turness followed suit. 

Brian Stelter breaks down the situation

When Whitfield broke the news live, she turned to CNN’s chief media analyst for answers.

“And now this breaking news just coming in to CNN,” she said. “A huge media shakeup this hour as two top leaders of Britain’s television network, BBC, say they are resigning after allegations the British Broadcasting Corporation made a misleading edit of a speech by President Trump. I want to go straight to CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, tell us more about what—what happened?”

“Yeah, there's both a narrow story here about this edit and then a very big story about the state of the British broadcasting system, Fred," Stelter responded, “Both Tim Davie, who is the chief executive of all of the BBC, as well as Deborah Turness, who is the head of BBC News — they are both stepping down this evening in the UK, and they are both citing this recent controversy, but also the broader climate the BBC operates in.” 

“This row actually started about a week ago after a British newspaper got a hold of an internal memo describing a misleading edit that was made to a documentary that aired last fall, right before the US Election Day. This documentary was about Trump's attempt to return to office, and it spliced together two different parts of Trump's infamous speech at the Ellipse on January 6th, 2021.”

“So the documentary made it sound like Trump was telling his supporters that he was going to walk with them to the Capitol to, quote, 'fight like hell.' Trump actually said that day he was going to walk with them to the Capitol to cheer on Republican lawmakers,” he explained. “Of course, Trump never actually made that walk. He did refer repeatedly to fighting that day, but the edit was misleading in this documentary."

Stelter noted that nobody caught the manipulation when the doc aired last year. “The documentary was shown on the BBC last year. Nobody seemed to notice this misleading edit at the time. It was only in the past few days, when this internal memo was leaked, that there became a big political controversy, both in the UK and here in the US," he said.

Brian Stelter finds resignations 'very dramatic'

Stelter also pointed to the relentless scrutiny the BBC faces. “The BBC has been under immense political pressure in the UK for some time,” he said. “When you're the head of the BBC it feels like you are a punching bag, whether it's over coverage of Israel's war in Gaza, whether it's over dramas or comedies that are airing on the schedule, whether it's over all sorts of different things.”

Davie reportedly referenced “the feverish nature of the environment” in his resignation memo, before thanking the board for its support and calling his five-year run “wonderful.”

“Still a very dramatic move at the BBC, which is known for everything from dramas like 'Traitors' all the way to the BBC news operation that exists all around the world," Stelter commented. "Quite unusual to see the two top leaders of that news organization both stepping down under pressure.”