(AFP) – The BBC said Thursday it was investigating a possible second instance in which a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited in a misleading way. On Monday, the BBC apologised for giving the impression that Trump had directly urged “violent action” just before the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters in 2021 in a documentary that aired in October last year.
Trump’s lawyers wrote a letter to the BBC, giving it until Friday to “appropriately compensate” the president for “harm caused” by the edit, or face a $1 billion legal case. The BBC director-general and the organisation’s top news executive resigned Sunday over the controversy.
On Thursday, The Telegraph said the broadcaster also aired another report, in June 2022, on its “Newsnight” programme, in which phrases spoken at different points in a speech by Trump from January 6, 2021—the day of the riots—were edited together to make it appear as if the outgoing president was urging his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell.” A BBC spokesperson said: “This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”
The editing row comes at a politically sensitive time for the BBC, which is due to renegotiate the Royal Charter that outlines the corporation’s governance. Its current charter will end in 2027. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government have been performing a tightrope act, backing the broadcaster’s independence while avoiding taking sides against Trump.
© 2024 AFP
