BBC Chairman Samir Shah said Monday the broadcaster moved too slowly to address a misleading edit in a documentary about U.S. President Donald Trump, but he rejected claims that the BBC’s impartiality is being compromised by its own board.
Shah and other senior leaders faced questions from Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee as the publicly funded broadcaster confronts a leadership and credibility crisis. The BBC’s director general and head of news resigned earlier this month, and Trump has threatened to sue the corporation for $1 billion.
The controversy centers on an internal memo by former external adviser Michael Prescott that was leaked to British media. The note accused the BBC of biased reporting, citing a Trump documentary aired days before the 2024 U.S. election along with other coverage involving transgender issues, Gaza and race.
The documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance?,” was produced by a third-party company. It combined three separate quotes from Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech into what appeared to be a single statement in which he urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.” Shah said the edit created “the impression of a direct call for violent action,” suggesting Trump encouraged the attack on the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. “We should have pursued it to the end and got to the bottom of it, and not wait, as we did, till it became public discourse,” Shah told lawmakers.
The BBC said last week Shah wrote to the White House to apologize for the edit. The corporation has also said it did not defame Trump and dismissed the basis of his legal threat. Shah also defended board member Robbie Gibb, a nonexecutive director and former communications chief for ex-Prime Minister Theresa May. Critics have accused Gibb of pro-Conservative Party bias and of influencing BBC editorial decisions. Gibb told the committee he had become “weaponized” in public debate and called suggestions of a board-led coup that forced executive resignations “complete nonsense.”
Another board member, Shumeet Banerji, resigned last week citing “governance issues,” further intensifying scrutiny of the BBC’s leadership. Shah said his focus is on steadying the organization and appointing a new director general. Prescott, the memo’s author, told lawmakers the BBC had “systemic” problems in handling internal concerns and was often defensive when problems were raised. He said former director general Tim Davie and other managers had “this blind spot on editorial failings,” though he added he did not believe the BBC suffers from institutional bias.
The BBC has been under pressure on multiple fronts. In October, Britain’s media regulator sanctioned the broadcaster for a “materially misleading” Gaza documentary that failed to disclose the father of a teen narrator held a role in the Hamas administration. The regulator said the omission could erode public trust.
As a national institution funded by an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds ($230) per household that watches live TV or BBC content, the BBC is bound by its charter to remain impartial. Legal analysts have said Trump would likely face obstacles in court in either the U.K. or the U.S., arguing the broadcaster can contend he was not harmed, given his 2024 election victory.
First published: 03:21, 11.25.25