BBC apologises to Trump over Panorama edit but refuses to pay compensation

The BBC has apologized to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that pieced together parts of his January 6, 2021, speech, but rejected his claim for compensation.

The foundation said the amendment gave “the false impression that President Trump made a direct call for violent action,” and said it would not present the 2024 program again.

Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to demand compensation amounting to one billion dollars (759 million pounds sterling) unless the corporation retracted the matter, apologized to him, and compensated him.

The Culture Secretary told BBC Breakfast that she was confident the institution was “dealing with this matter with the seriousness it requires”, adding that its role was to ensure “the highest standards are adhered to”.

Lisa Nandy, who has highlighted the BBC’s independence from government, said she speaks daily with the corporation’s chairman, director general and senior leadership.

“The BBC guards its independence from the government very fiercely for a reason. It is there to shine a light, not just on the country, but on us as a government as well.”

While the BBC was holding “direct discussions with the US administration and its lawyers,” it added that the government had not spoken with the Trump administration about this issue.

“I think this is a question for the head of the BBC, not the government,” she said.

Nandy also told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that there was “an emerging thread through many of the challenges the BBC has faced”.

It added that its editorial standards and guidelines “in some cases were not robust enough and in others were not applied consistently.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Prime Minister on Thursday to “phone Trump” to end his threat to sue and “defend the impartiality and independence of the BBC”.

The fallout from the scandal led to the resignation of BBC Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Torness on Sunday.

BBC News has contacted the White House for comment.

The apology comes hours later A second clip was similarly editedThe revelation, which was broadcast on Newsnight in 2022, was made by Daily Telegraph.

In the corrections and clarifications sectionThe BBC, publishing on Thursday evening, said the Panorama program had been reviewed after criticism of how Trump’s speech was edited.

The BBC has been given until 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday to respond.

“We accept that our edit inadvertently created the impression that we were showing one continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the false impression that President Trump made a direct call for violent action,” the statement said.

BBC lawyers have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter they received on Sunday, a BBC spokesperson said.

“BBC Chairman Samir Shah separately sent a personal letter to the White House explaining to President Trump that he and the corporation were sorry for altering the President’s speech on January 6, 2021, which appeared on the program,” they said.

They added: “While the BBC deeply regrets the way in which the video was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for the defamation claim.”

“We will head to the Capitol, and we will cheer on our brave senators, congressmen and women,” Trump said in his speech.

More than 50 minutes into his speech, he said: “And we are fighting. We are fighting like hell.”

In the Panorama program, he appears in the clip saying: “We will march to the Capitol building… and I will be there with you. And we are fighting. We are fighting like hell.”

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said his speech was “slaughtered” and that the way it was presented “deceived” viewers.

The BBC received the letter from Trump’s lawyers on Sunday. The resolution demands a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, an apology, and that the BBC “adequately compensate President Trump for the harm he has caused.”

In its letter to Trump’s legal team, the BBC sets out five main arguments as to why it does not believe it has a case to answer.

First, it says that the BBC does not have the right to distribute the Panorama episode on its American channels, and did not distribute it.

When the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was limited to viewers in the United Kingdom.

Second, it says the documentary did no harm to Trump, as he was re-elected shortly after.

Thirdly, it says that the clip was not intended to mislead, but merely to shorten a long speech, and that the edit was not made intentionally.

Fourth, she says that the passage was never meant to be considered in isolation. Rather, it was 12 seconds within an hour-long program, which also contained 12 seconds Many votes support Trump.

Finally, opinion on a matter of public concern and political speech are strongly protected under libel laws in the United States.

A BBC insider said that internally, there is strong belief in the issue raised by the company, and in defending it.

Earlier on Thursday, the BBC was accused of another misleading edit of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, two years before the Panorama series was broadcast.

On Newsnight from 2022, the edit is slightly different from Panorama.

Trump is shown saying: “We will march to the Capitol. We will cheer on our brave senators, congressmen and women. And we are fighting. We are fighting like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”

This was followed by a voiceover from anchor Kirsty Wark saying “and fight” over footage of the Capitol riot.

In response to the clip on the same program, former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who resigned from his diplomatic post and became a critic of Trump after calling the Jan. 6 riot an “attempted coup,” said the video “linked” Trump’s speech.

He added: “That line that says ‘we fight and we fight like hell’ is later in the speech, and yet your video makes it seem like those two things came together.”

In response to Thursday’s story in The Telegraph, a BBC spokesman said the BBC adhered to “the highest editorial standards” and the matter was being looked into.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told The Telegraph: “It is now clear that the BBC is engaged in a pattern of defamation against President Trump.”

Concerns about the documentary Trump Panorama arose when… Leaked internal memowritten by a former independent outside consultant to the Foundation’s Editorial Standards Committee Published by The Telegraph. Among other things, the document also criticized BBC reporting on transgender issues, and BBC Arabic’s coverage of the war between Israel and Gaza.