Trump demands $1 billion from the BBC. compensation. “The material was cunningly assembled”

BBC chairman Samir Shah admitted on Monday that the montage of Donald Trump's statement, published a week before the US presidential election, was an “error of judgment”. In a statement sent to the committee on culture, media and sports, Shah apologized for the error.

BBC Director General Tim Davie and Executive Director of News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday following the Telegraph's disclosure that the BBC had broadcast material containing a montage of Donald Trump's words that misled audiences.

The BBC reported that the American president had sent a letter to the station in which he threatened to take legal action. The sender announced that he would respond to it in due time.

Trump commented on Davie and Turness's resignation on Sunday, calling them “very dishonest people who tried to get in the way of the presidential election” in a post on Truth Social.

Concerns about the publication were raised in a 19-page internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee.

Shah said the station has received more than 500 complaints since Prescott's opinion was released. “They are currently being dealt with as normal. This matter has also prompted the BBC to reflect further,” the statement said.

The BBC chairman noted that media statements that appeared after the memo was leaked last week suggested that the station was trying to hide its contents. Shah said “this interpretation is incorrect” as the conclusions put forward by Prescott had been referred to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee and the board.

The statement said that the management board will once again analyze the content of the document and will disclose the conclusions and actions that will be taken in connection with this matter. Shah stressed that the BBC must ensure impartiality, adding that this was “necessary now more than ever”.

In his opinion, there is now a growing need to inform society in an impartial, reliable and based on evidence that can be trusted. “This is the sacred task of the BBC,” he stressed.

In an interview with the BBC, Shah said that at the moment he does not know whether President Trump will sue the British station, as he previously sued the American media. He admitted that the BBC should be prepared for such an eventuality.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman said the BBC was not corrupt or institutionally biased. He added that the station “plays a key role in the era of disinformation (…) and there is a clear case for the UK news agency to operate efficiently and impartially.”

According to the British media, the BBC is currently going through the biggest crisis in a decade. In the Guardian's opinion, the BBC's lack of comment immediately after the news was revealed shows that the station is “weak and cowardly, just when it should be strong and brave.” “Trump's threat to sue the BBC follows his successful intimidation of the US media, which has resulted in subsequent commercial broadcasters agreeing to pay compensation, even for the most minor allegations. The BBC must be independent of government and political interference,” the newspaper wrote.

According to the Telegraph, the head of the BBC has disgraced himself and his “sin will have serious consequences.” “This is not petty nonsense like 'there will be no hurricane tomorrow', but (…) an amplification of serious political controversies,” the daily said.

The editors stated that the station's last serious crisis was in 2012, when the scandal involving BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, who had sexually harassed hundreds of people, came to light.

The British media pointed out that this event could have serious consequences in connection with the station's future negotiations regarding the license fee. “The problem is that in the modern, post-television world, the license fee is completely unjustified. The BBC must explain why, when there are so many other stations (on the market), it should have the right to force us to pay – just when audience tastes differ, national identity is fragmented and the quality of the BBC's production is in question,” writes the Telegraph.

The Times recalled that “the BBC is funded by the public and works for the public.” “The first of the five missions set out in the statute is to provide reliable and impartial news and current affairs programs based on facts, offering analysis and content that is not generally available. This mission is crucial in the context of an increasingly polarized online world, plagued by disinformation. (…) the leaked internal memo is evidence that BBC News is not always impartial,” the editorial team said.

The Spectator wonders who will be the new head of the BBC. According to the weekly, it should be a person with “serious editorial experience” and “an outsider (…) who is not familiar with the way the BBC operates and perceives reality.” The editors suggest that the person who meets these conditions is Trevor Philips, a journalist who hosts a political program on Sky News and a columnist for the Times. “He is center-left, so he cannot be considered a right-wing henchman, but he has the intellectual self-confidence not to be bound by any dogmas or established patterns,” the magazine said.