This is the moment a BBC newsreader announced live on air that director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness had quit as the corporation descended into turmoil.
The senior pair sensationally stepped down amid an impartiality row which has rocked the national broadcaster after an internal report accused it of bias and censorship.
Mr Davie admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made after a bombshell report by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the corporation’s editorial watchdog, accused the BBC of doctoring a speech by US President Donald Trump and censoring the debate on transgender issues, and said its Gaza coverage had been biased.
This led the experienced chief to quit, along with Ms Turness, on Sunday night – and the pair’s downfall was reported live on the BBC.
The newsreader said: ‘Breaking news – about the BBC. The BBC chairman has announced that both the director general Tim Davie and the News CEO Deborah Turness are to resign.’
She then handed over to BBC News’s culture reporter Noor Nanji who discussed the ‘really significant news’.
It comes after, Mr Trump described Mr Davie and BBC journalists as ‘very dishonest’ as he launched a new attack against the scandal-hit corporation.
The president’s speech on January 6, 2021, was edited in a Panorama documentary to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to ‘fight like hell’.
This is the moment a BBC newsreader announced live on air that director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness had quit as the corporation descended into turmoil
Mr Davie (pictured in February 2024) stepped down amid an impartiality row which has rocked the national broadcaster after an internal report accused it of bias and censorship
Deborah Turness (pictured in January 2023), chief executive of BBC News, also stepped down
He branded the broadcaster a ‘terrible thing for democracy’ and said its ‘corrupt journalists’ had been exposed.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, he wrote: ‘The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.
‘These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. 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!’
He also shared a Daily Mail column from Boris Johnson, where the former Prime Minister vowed to withhold his licence fee unless Mr Davie broke his silence on the incident or resigned.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the ‘BBC is dying because they are anti-Trump Fake News’.
It followed comments from last week where she said the corporation was ‘100 per cent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom’.
And last night she posted a screenshot of her comments alongside the broadcaster’s announcement of Mr Davie’s resignation. She captioned the tweet: ‘Shot’ and ‘Chaser’.
Mr Davie admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made, adding: ‘I have to take ultimate responsibility.’
Donald Trump last night condemned the ‘corrupt’ BBC as he tore into director-general Tim Davie
Mr Trump described Mr Davie and BBC journalists as ‘very dishonest’ as he launched a new attack against the scandal-hit corporation
Ms Turness said the ‘buck stops with me’ and acknowledged the editing of footage of the US President in the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ had caused ‘damage’ to the BBC.
But she denied claims that the broadcaster was institutionally biased.
Both executives have resigned rather than been sacked, with BBC chairman Samir Shah calling it a ‘sad day’.
A BBC insider told the Daily Mail that Mr Davie was ‘furious’ at political leaders who ‘jumped on the report to bring him down’.
Mr Davie’s resignation brings to an end to a 20-year career at the BBC which saw him rise from director of marketing, communications and audiences.
Since he took the top job in 2020, the corporation has faced many crises, including the prosecution of newsreader Huw Edwards over possession of indecent images of children, the axing of MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode, and the airing of a performance of Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, when its lead singer chanted ‘Death to the IDF’.
But it was a 19-page report by Mr Prescott which brought down the director-general.
Mr Davie said he wanted to hand over to a new director-general ahead of Royal Charter renewal negotiations with the Government, which will decide the broadcaster’s future funding model.
