The BBC has announced a shake-up of a key editorial committee following criticism of how the broadcaster handled concerns about the editing of a Donald Trump speech and other issues.
An internal review, said BBC executives did not act “quickly or decisively enough following the discovery of the misleading edit of a speech by President Trump in a Panorama programme”.
The row over the edit sparked the resignations of the BBC’s director general and head of news last month, and led to a multi-billion dollar lawsuit from Trump. BBC chairman Samir Shah said changes to the BBC board’s editorial standards committee would “ensure swift, appropriate and transparent action is taken to address editorial issues as effectively as possible, whenever they occur”.
The committee will no longer include the BBC chairman, though. That means the revamped panel will not be headed by Shah, who came in for criticism for his handling of the recent crisis. It will also no longer include the BBC’s head of news.
However, board member Sir Robbie Gibb, a former Downing Street director of communications whose role at the BBC has come under scrutiny, will remain, and will be joined by two fellow non-executive directors.
Changes will be made to “clarify and focus” the committee’s remit and set out a “robust and transparent approach” to tackling editorial concerns, such as those about the Panorama episode, and doing so promptly.
BBC board member Caroline Thomson carried out the review, and will be the committee’s new chairwoman.
BBC editing guidelines unchanged
Concerns about the Panorama edit and other editorial issues, including coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict and trans issues, came to light last month in a leaked internal memo.
A review of the issues it raised was also published on Friday, and concluded that guidelines for BBC journalists on the use of editing should not be changed despite the Panorama row.
The BBC’s current editorial guidelines say editing “must never be used to give the audience a materially misleading impression of events”.
The BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews, Peter Johnston, said: “I was asked to look at the editorial guidelines on use of editing. I do not believe any changes are required, but we will ensure these lessons are reinforced.”
Mr Johnston said the Panorama edit was the “key unresolved issue” from the leaked memo, and that action had been taken to address the other concerns.
The BBC has previously apologised for an “error of judgement” that meant the documentary gave “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” during his speech on the day of the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021.
Earlier this week, the BBC said it would defend itself against a lawsuit filed by Trump, who said the Panorama episode amounted to defamation and violation of a trade practices law.
