BBC editors did not realise Trump speech had been doctored
The splicing together of two parts of the US President’s speech in a Panorama program went unnoticed until an editorial adviser spotted it months after it was broadcast.
Editors of the Panorama program about Donald Trump, which risks costing the BBC $US1bn ($1.5bn) in a potential lawsuit, were unaware of the way his speech had been “doctored” when they signed off the program.
The US President has threatened the BBC with legal action over the 2024 show Trump: A Second Chance? after it gave the impression that he made a “direct call for violent action” because two sections of his speech before the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, were spliced together.
Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, was forced to apologise for the mistake in a letter to ministers on Monday (local time) after it led to the resignation of Tim Davie, the director-general, and Deborah Turness, chief executive of news.
“We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action,” Mr Shah said. “The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgment.”
Questions have been swirling about why the program was allowed to air since Monday last week when a leaked memo by Michael Prescott, an ex-BBC external adviser, highlighted the error.
Trump: A Second Chance? was produced by an in-house BBC team with October Films, an Emmy and BAFTA award-winning producer with credits including Labour in Power: Inside the New Government, BBC2’s Laura Kuenssberg: State of Chaos, and Channel 4’s Levison Wood: Walking With...
The collaboration came about after the BBC and October Films discovered that they were simultaneously developing documentaries about Mr Trump’s most ardent supporters and joined forces.
Under the terms of the agreement, the BBC appointed an experienced in-house producer-director, whose credits include Panorama, Are You Scared Yet, Human? and Trump and the Tech Titans to work on it alongside a BBC visual editor. The pair created the film, making the decision to splice together the two sections of the speech in good faith. According to Mr Shah their aim was to help “convey [the speech’s] message so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump’s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time”.
But they opted against informing the program’s executive producers at the BBC and October Films, as well as the Panorama editor, Karen Wightman, of their decision.
The seamless nature in which Mr Trump’s speech had been spliced, combined with the fact that it had taken place more than two years earlier, meant that the senior editorial figures, as well as the BBC’s compliance and legal teams, approved the documentary.
It aired in October last year and remained on BBC iPlayer for 12 months without any complaints.
A source close to the program said October Films remained unaware about the doctored edit until reports surfaced last week. “There was no discussion, no indication at all that it had been spliced together from two different sections,” the source said. “Had they known then they would have insisted that it be changed or the gap clearly been flagged.”
Others have highlighted the way Wightman is “meticulous and micromanages” the program. It is understood that she would also have vetoed the edit.
On Monday staff close to the program said there had been “no intention” to mislead viewers and that they were simply trying to distil Mr Trump’s long speech and had been backed by Turness.
Instead they blamed her resignation on “the constant mistakes” over coverage of the war in Gaza. “They seem to be scapegoating Panorama,” a source added. “It just feels really unfair.”
One media veteran suggested Wightman could still face pressure over the program, saying: “There is a world in which people take responsibility for mistakes made by their underlings.”
The edit was exposed by David Grossman, a BBC editorial adviser, who flagged it to the editorial guidelines and standards committee in January as part of a 45-page comprehensive report on the BBC’s coverage of the US election.
Sources have speculated that the “forensic” Mr Grossman only spotted the cut that others had missed because his previous role as the BBC Newsnight’s US correspondent meant he was in Washington for the speech.
Had he not noticed the mistake, the BBC director-general and its news boss may still be in post. One individual close to the film said: “It was a sliding doors moment.”
The Times
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout