FLASH NEWS
Will Tim Davie's resignation be enough to restore public trust in the BBC?
2025-11-10 09:27:35 / BOTA
BBC staff regularly joke that "deputy directors should overlook" major mistakes because they rarely seem to have any influence on those at the top of the organisation. That all changed on Sunday, when Tim Davie and Deborah Turness resigned from their jobs.
Davie had no shortage of scandals during his five years as director-general - in recent months these included controversies over a documentary on Gaza and coverage of events at Glastonbury - and was nicknamed "Teflon Tim" by BBC insiders because nothing seemed to stick.
But this week, that's what happened.
However, it is strange that the cause of this crisis was a largely forgotten report from the Panorama program, broadcast more than a year ago, regarding the US elections.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which has never been a friend of the BBC, uncovered a report by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC committee that oversees editorial standards.
Prescott's report suggested that Panorama had edited a speech by Donald Trump to make it appear as if he had explicitly encouraged the riots at the Capitol.
Prescott accused the corporation of “serious and systematic” bias in its editorial coverage. Perhaps predictably, parts of the right immediately reacted to the report.
Boris Johnson told the Telegraph newspaper that Davie "must either explain or resign". Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch said "heads should roll". The story spread to the US, where the White House described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine".
Senior BBC insiders were disappointed.
Aware of the crucial role the corporation plays in national life, they have admitted their sincere concern about the propensity for major editorial errors. But they have also harbored deeper fears: that the attacks are part of an ongoing political and ideological campaign by those seeking to undermine the organization.
However, the government has had its own concerns about the BBC. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said on Sunday - before the resignations - that since the election, there had been "countless conversations with senior management, too many to mention and far more than I would like". There appears to have been little trust between her and Davie.
Nandy warned that there was “a very, very dangerous environment in this country where people can't trust what they see.” BBC News – with its vast reach at home and abroad – plays a key role in challenging disinformation in an increasingly polarised media landscape.
It is because of this that Nandy is understood to privately share the concerns of many BBC staff that some of the attacks on the corporation are politically orchestrated - and that there has been a lack of figures at the top of the organisation who can successfully deal with the culture wars.
Many members within the government – and across all progressive parties – share the view that, for all its flaws, the role of the public service broadcaster in safeguarding democracy, which is under threat from the rise of the populist right, is vital.
"The BBC is not perfect, but it remains one of the few institutions that stands between our British values and a Trump-style populist invasion of our politics," Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said on Sunday.
However, whatever politicians think of the BBC, its fate depends on the public and whether the British people have faith in its future. Ultimately, that depends on fair and accurate reporting, free from political or ideological bias – from both sides.
The BBC regularly tops the UK media trust rankings. However, the latest debate comes at a particularly sensitive time, with the government due to review its royal charter before its current term expires in 2027.
Senior government insiders hope to use the charter review process to “future-proof the BBC”, creating structures that protect its independence – but also to ensure the corporation is more accountable.
It will be up to the BBC to repair the broken trust with politicians, with some of its own journalists and - most importantly - with parts of the public./ The Guardian .
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