A letter to defuse the crisis and avoid legal proceedings. In a “personal letter” sent Thursday, November 13 to Donald Trump, BBC president Samir Shah apologized after misleading editing of one of his speeches, according to a press release from the group. He has just one day left before the ultimatum issued by the billionaire’s lawyers expires: on Sunday they threatened a legal attack, with demands for a billion dollars in damages if there is no apology.
In this letter, the British media giant denied this “legal basis” for defamation complaints. HE is trying to navigate the chaos that has rocked the BBC since revelations of a misleading montage broadcast in its flagship news magazine last week. Panorama. Just before the 2024 US presidential election, a separate excerpt from Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech was broadcast, but edited in such a way that he appeared to explicitly call on his supporters to attack the Capitol in Washington. The documentary has been removed and will not be shown again, as stated in the apology message.
The affair escalated, leading to the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and BBC News boss Deborah Turness. The next day, Samir Shah recognized a “misjudgment” in his letter to the British Parliament. Without apologizing to Donald Trump. Yang, together with his lawyer, then gave him until this Friday, at 10 pm, to apologize and most importantly retract the damning documentary. In its press release, the group also stressed that its lawyers had written to Donald Trump’s lawyers. However, without revealing the contents of this letter.
But the BBC chairman’s apology was not enough to appease Trump, who said on Friday he would sue the BBC for up to $5 billion.
“We’re going to sue them for (between) $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week. I think I should. They even admitted to cheating. he stated on the shipAir Force One. And the American president continued: “British people are furious about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows that the BBC is simply spreading fake news.” He also said he planned to raise the issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He had vowed Wednesday to do so “defending a strong, independent BBC”. “I was going to call him this weekend. But he called me, he was very embarrassed, added Donald Trump.
Before issuing his ultimatum, the American president, who has stepped up threats and legal action against American media, had described BBC journalists as irresponsible. “corrupt” And “dishonest”.
Keir Starmer, despite being asked about the matter, on Wednesday refused to comment publicly on the threat of a legal attack. He just promised to do so “always defended a strong and independent BBC”… While believing that he should “get your affairs in order”, “respect for the highest (quality) standards” And “fix errors quickly”. “In the age of disinformation, the demand for a neutral UK news service is stronger than ever”he insisted.
However, the alleged montage was not the only error broadcast by the channel. The BBC said on Thursday that it was examining a second case of possible misleading editing of the same speech by Donald Trump in the channel’s flagship program broadcast in 2022, that is, two years before the broadcast of the program. Panorama. Its existence was explained on Thursday by a British daily Telegraph. “This matter has been brought to our attention and we are investigating it”reaction of media spokesperson.
This controversy has sparked heated debate in the UK regarding the function of the BBC and its impartiality. This illustrates a deeper problem: the group has been shaken in recent years by a number of controversies and scandals. Last month, Britain’s media regulator again said he had done this “violates broadcasting regulations” with reports in Gaza. The main narrator, a child, is the son of a senior official in the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, without indicating this relationship to the viewer.
Renew at 8:28 a.m. with a statement from Donald Trump.
