The crisis that has been “simmering” for weeks at its public broadcaster Britain ultimately resulted in a leadership reversal. Its general manager BBCTim Davey, resigned on Sunday (09.11.2025), as did BBC News chief executive Deborah Ternes, following the furor over a documentary which was accused of misleading viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump.
In a message to staff, Tim Davey said his departure was “purely a personal decision”, while thanking the chairman and the Board of Directors for their “full and unquestioning support, even in the last few days”. Davey, who has worked at the BBC for around 20 years in Britain, will remain interim director-general until his successor is named.
BBC chairman Samir Shah called it a “sad day” for the organisation, calling Davey a “fantastic director-general” and recalling his long career at the organisation. He clarified that he will continue to work with him during the transition phase.
For weeks, the BBC has been heavily criticized in the UK. Many accused it of not adhering to the principle of political neutrality, especially in its coverage of Donald Trump, the war between Israel and Hamas, but also in issues concerning transgender people.
The row escalated after a series of publications by the Daily Telegraph revealed an internal memo written by a former BBC ethics adviser. That document documented multiple failures, including the way Panorama’s iconic Capitol attack documentary was edited.
According to the memo, the BBC allegedly “glued together” two different excerpts from a speech by Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, giving the impression that he was directly calling on his supporters to “march to Capitol Hill” and “fight furiously” to challenge the election result. In fact, the two phrases were said at different points in the speech, fueling accusations of misleading editing.
In this climate of questioning about the journalistic rigor of the organization, the resignations of Tim Davey and Deborah Ternes open a new, particularly difficult page for the BBC, which has already been under intense political and media pressure in recent years.