The BBC has confirmed it has received a letter from Donald Trump threatening legal action over the editing of a Panorama programme that appeared to show the US President condoning acts of violence.
Earlier, BBC Chair Samir Shah apologised for an “error of judgement” following the weekend resignations of BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness.
In a letter to Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah addressed a series of issues around bias at the broadcaster detailed by Michael Prescott, a former external advisor to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) and leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
In the memo, Mr Prescott claimed there was “anti-Israel bias” in BBC Arabic’s coverage. He wrote that several contributors selectively covered stories that were critical of Israel.
“It is worth stating at the outset that some of the coverage of Mr Prescott’s memo has implied that he has “uncovered” a list of stories and issues that the BBC have sought to “bury”. That interpretation is simply not true. The issues raised by Mr Prescott are precisely the issues that have been considered by the EGSC and the Board. The EGSC is the senior forum in which we scrutinise BBC output when concerns have been raised (from either internal or external sources) and where we determine what action needs to be taken. Put simply: the Committee’s job is to examine the bad news not the good news.”
Mr Shah says that the Prescott memo is his perspective from the meetings at which he was present and not the full picture of the discussion. He adds that actions ranging from published corrections and clarifications through to new editorial advice has been taken based on EGSC research into editorial concerns.
Action has also been taken over alleged bias in the BBC Arabic service where the team has been restructured a new Arabic speaking Head of Editorial Quality and Standards has been appointed in the World Service, and a new social media research unit has been set up to verify those who appear on the service.
