BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness have resigned following accusations of serious and systemic bias in the BBC's media coverage.
The claims were made that the BBC was biased, reporting issues related to U.S. President Donald Trump, Gaza, and other trans-related subjects.
As reported by the Guardian, BBC boss Tim Davie said his resignation was 'entirely his own decision’; however, the current accusation had contributed to that.
Following the decision, the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, Deborah Turness, had also resigned.
Sources within the department described that “as a result of a campaign by political enemies of the BBC."
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee UK had set a Monday, November 10, 2025, deadline for the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC to respond to the claims made by Michael Prescott, a former independent external advisor to its editorial guidelines and standards committee.
Prescott, who left the role last summer, criticized the editing of Trump's speech in an edition of Panorama Documentary, which merged clips from an address the U.S. president made on January 6, 2021.
The edit suggested Trump told the crowd, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and I'll be there with you and we fight, we fight like hell."
As reported, the words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart, and the incident has led to criticism over the BBC by Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who described the corporation this week as "100% fake news and a propaganda machine.”
While Trump also posted on his own social media platform, ‘Truth Social,’ that ‘very dishonest people’ had tried to step on the scale of a Presidential election, adding, “On top of everything else, they are from a foreign country, one that many consider our number one ally. What a terrible thing for democracy!"
On the other hand, Davie said that the BBC is preparing to apologize for the way it edited U.S. President Donald Trump’s Speech, as no organization is faultless.
“Like all public organizations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable,” said Davie.
“Overall, the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made, and as director general, I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Davie added.
The BBC’s former boss further said he had retained the “unswerving and unanimous support” from the BBC board and its chairperson, Samir Shah throughout his journey with the organization.
The resignations came after a challenging year in which the BBC had been criticized for comments made by its presenters on several occasions.
According to the Guardian, these departures appear to be an attempt to protect the BBC from further attacks following Prescott’s criticisms.
Chairperson of the BBC, Samir Shah, called the resignations a ‘sad day’ for the BBC, adding that he also understands the pressure on the director general personally and professionally.
Shah said, “The whole board respects the decision and reasons for it.”
Moreover, CEO BBC News Deborah Turness also expressed that 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.”
“As the CEO of BBC News, the buck stops with me and leaders need to be fully accountable – that is why I am stepping down," said Turness.
