{"id":287255,"date":"2025-11-12T14:25:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/287255\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T14:25:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:25:06","slug":"how-tim-davie-resigned-over-its-worst-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/287255\/","title":{"rendered":"How Tim Davie Resigned Over Its Worst Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn April 2024, Tim Davie<\/a> \u2014 the BBC<\/a> director general who resigned on Sunday \u2014 was dealing with yet another crisis at the U.K.\u2019s national broadcaster. Its top news anchor, Huw Edwards, had just resigned in disgrace following a 10-month suspension after it emerged he had paid a teenager for sexually explicit photographs. What few people aside from Davie knew at the time was that Edwards had been arrested and was facing prison<\/a> for an unrelated and even more serious offense: accessing photographs of young children being sexually abused. Davie had in fact been informed of Edwards\u2019 arrest six months earlier and yet continued to pay the news anchor\u2019s $631,000 salary<\/a> throughout Edwards\u2019 suspension and even as he awaited trial. (Edwards, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to a six month suspended sentence<\/a> and a sex offender treatment program in Sept. 2024).<\/p>\n

\n\tExactly a week after Edwards\u2019 resignation \u2013 and with news of his arrest still known only to a handful of senior BBC executives \u2013 Davie took time out of his busy schedule to attend a showcase for World Service, the BBC\u2019s international arm, where he gave no hint that anything was amiss. In his speech at the event, held at the BBC\u2019s London headquarters, Davie noted that 2024 was an election year in many countries and that \u201cfree and fair reporting has never been more essential.\u201d He also singled out World Service\u2019s BBC Arabic team<\/a>, who had been given pride of place in the second row directly behind Davie, for special praise. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely fabulous to have you in our presence,\u201d the director general told them.<\/p>\n

\n\tLooking back, it is perhaps ironic that it was not Edwards \u2013 whose arrest sparked an outpouring of fury when it was finally made public three months later \u2013 that led to Davie\u2019s downfall, but the BBC\u2019s own \u201cfree and fair reporting.\u201d Davie \u2014 along with his head of news Deborah Turness \u2013 resigned this week<\/a> following the leak of a damning internal report that revealed one of the broadcaster\u2019s flagship current affairs programs had doctored footage of President Trump\u2019s speech before the Capitol insurrection. The 21-page report, written by Michael Prescott, an advisor to the BBC\u2019s External Guidelines and Standards Board, also raised troubling questions over the impartiality of BBC Arabic, among a host of other issues.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince taking the top job in September 2020, former marketing executive Davie had earned the nickname \u201cTeflon Tim\u201d for managing to hold on despite crisis after crisis: not only multiple sexual abuse and harassment scandals (as well as Edwards both Russell Brand<\/a> and former DJ Tim Westwood<\/a> have been charged with offences during Davie\u2019s tenure while longtime \u201cMasterchef\u201d host Gregg Wallace was fired after being accused of \u201cinappropriate sexual behavior\u201d and is now suing the BBC) but also a number of bullying claims on its most high-profile shows, including \u201cStrictly Come Dancing\u201d (where an investigation has also been launched into \u201cdrug use\u201d) and \u201cBBC Breakfast.\u201d It has also endured a number of editorial blow-ups such as broadcasting a Gaza documentary which failed to disclose the narrator was the son of a senior Hamas official<\/a>, the unfiltered broadcasting of antisemitic rhetoric at Glastonbury<\/a> and one of its top soccer anchors repeatedly breaching social media guidelines<\/a>, including sharing an Instagram story about \u201cZionists\u201d which contained a rat emoji.<\/p>\n

\n\tJust days after Prescott\u2019s report was leaked to a British newspaper, yet another scandal broke after the broadcaster determined news anchor Maxine Croxall had broken impartiality rules by changing an autocue from \u201cpregnant people\u201d to \u201cwomen\u201d during a live segment. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy that [only] 20 complaints should be upheld,\u201d one BBC News staffer told Variety of the Croxall incident. (By contrast, within ten days of Hamas\u2019 2023 attacks on Israel, the BBC said it had received 1,500 complaints over its coverage).<\/p>\n

\n\tBy then, however, the writing was already on the wall for Davie. Prescott, a seasoned journalist who had advised the broadcaster for three years before stepping down in June, sent his report to the entire BBC board in September after growing concern about what he described as \u201cserious and systemic problems\u201d within the organization once so trusted it was nicknamed \u201cAuntie.\u201d The most damaging revelation was that current affairs show \u201cPanorama\u201d had seamlessly spliced together two different lines in Trump\u2019s Jan. 6 speech that were uttered 55 minutes apart, significantly altering its meaning (the program was produced by an external production company, October Films Ltd in collaboration with the BBC). Many believe it was the threat of Trump taking legal action<\/a> that finally prompted Davie to step down. \u201cWhen the leader of the free world is threatening to sue you for a billion dollars, you can\u2019t really stay,\u201d a current BBC staffer, who requested anonymity, told Variety.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the Trump edit has undoubtedly made the most noise, Prescott cited what he considered a number of \u201cworrying systemic issues\u201d in the coverage of hot button topics including gender ideology and the Israel-Gaza war, such as platforming an antisemitic contributor (who tweeted Jews are \u201cdevils of the hypocrites\u201d) more than 550 times in an 18-month period even after his tweets were brought to editors\u2019 attention. According to The Daily Telegraph, which first revealed the existence of the report, over the past two years BBC Arabic has had to make 215 corrections and clarifications to its reporting of the Israel-Gaza war, amounting to approximately two corrections a week. One example mentioned in the report was a story published days before the World Service showcase, which appeared to accuse Israeli forces of dumping people in mass graves in Gaza\u2019s Al Nasser hospital based on a single Hamas-affiliated source \u2014 despite \u201cthe same journalists\u201d having reported months earlier that Palestinians were digging those graves for deceased patients.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cImpartiality isn\u2019t that hard: you stick to the facts, don\u2019t take sides, don\u2019t hide stuff and leave your personal beliefs at home,\u201d a current BBC journalist tells Variety while another, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was an invisible culture war within the newsroom. \u201cThere is a sort of cancel culture. It\u2019s not overt, but you have to keep quiet,\u201d the second journalist said. Although they had not personally come across any impartiality breaches as \u201cegregious\u201d as the \u201cPanorama\u201d documentary, they described witnessing a gentle massaging of stories to arrive at a pre-determined outcome. \u201cEditors will guide the reporter about how they want a story to be told. Then when the reporters finish their piece, they\u2019ll come and have a look. And if it doesn\u2019t reflect what the output editor wants to reflect, you know, that will be changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhich is why there remains a sense of unease among staff that Davie\u2019s resignation is merely performative and the BBC is still not grappling with the root of the issues raised in the report. \u201cBoth [Davie and Turness] managed to resign without admitting really anything,\u201d the second BBC journalist told Variety, adding of the broadcaster: \u201cThey\u2019ll do anything to appease Trump.\u201d That could potentially include axing \u201cPanorama\u201d \u2013 which was previously embroiled in a historic scandal involving Princess Diana<\/a> \u2014 in an attempt to save the rest of the organization. But Variety understands morale is so low that even staff on other BBC flagship news programs such as Newsnight are pessimistic about their future in the wake of the fallout. (Failures at Newsnight are also mentioned in the Prescott report).<\/p>\n

\n\tSome BBC journalists are also concerned by the appointment of Jonathan Munro \u2013 who is mentioned in the report as defending the \u201cPanorama\u201d documentary edit when it was first brought to his attention \u2013 as Turness\u2019s interim replacement. One said Munro \u201cis not the answer to any of these problems\u201d while another described him as being at \u201cthe core of what\u2019s wrong with BBC News.\u201d Danny Cohen, the BBC\u2019s former head of television who has been openly critical about the broadcaster\u2019s editorial input, in particular in relation to coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, tells Variety: \u201cThe Prescott report is a really serious piece of work and for the BBC to pretend to ignore its findings doesn\u2019t serve the BBC in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring an all-staff meeting on Tuesday morning, which was broadcast on the BBC\u2019s internal network and which Variety has seen, neither Davie nor BBC chair Samir Shah engaged with the substance of the report nor its criticism of the \u201cPanorama\u201d documentary. Shah backed Davie entirely, calling him \u201coutstanding,\u201d while Davie twice referred to \u201cweaponization\u201d and once to the BBC\u2019s \u201cenemies,\u201d echoing a narrative which has taken hold amongst some swathes of both the newsroom and external supporters that the scandal has been concocted or at least inflamed by right-wing figures hoping to bring down the BBC. When explicitly asked why he\u2019d decided to resign, Davie listed three reasons: the personal toll of the job, the upcoming charter renewal<\/a> and, \u201clastly, I think we did make a mistake and there was an editorial breach and I think some responsibility had to be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA third BBC staffer Variety spoke to, again on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, described Davie and Shah\u2019s attitude in the meeting as \u201cdefensive\u201d and said it had been \u201cquite disappointing\u201d that the former BBC boss hadn\u2019t taken the opportunity to apologize to staff given the turmoil that had ensued. \u201cThere\u2019s a real lack of self-awareness there,\u201d said the staffer, who admitted that such is the anger around the BBC\u2019s news coverage he avoids telling people where he works because of the reaction it provokes.<\/p>\n

\n\tStorytelling consultant and former BBC journalist Dhruti Shah, who worked on \u201cPanorama\u201d among other titles during her time at the broadcaster, acknowledged that the Trump edit amounted to \u201csloppiness\u201d but is among those concerned that the scandal is being used as a way to attack the BBC. She sees a parallel between many of its scandals, from Trump to Edwards to the mass exodus of women of color<\/a> exclusively reported by Variety three years ago, as being the products of a broken internal culture in which employees don\u2019t feel able to challenge colleagues and senior staff on issues that have the potential to spiral out of control. In each case opportunities to deal with problems before they became public were missed. \u201cThe thing I always say is the BBC is absolutely amazing at reporting on issues and problems happening elsewhere\u2026. it\u2019s not as robust as it could be at challenges within,\u201d she told Variety. \u201cBecause really you want to deal with all your problems within, rather than get to a point where they can then be weaponized from those without.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo far attempts to try and change that culture \u2013 most recently with the debut of an internal \u201cCall It Out\u201d campaign to encourage staff to report workplace issues \u2013 have fallen flat. A \u201cCall It Out\u201d guide available on the intranet advises: \u201cResolving concerns early can nip potential issues in the bud[.]\u201d As part of the campaign the BBC spent $80,000 on new mugs, lanyards and pins emblazoned with \u201cCall It Out,\u201d an exercise that one staffer described as \u201claughable.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s again just a complete lack of self-awareness,\u201d he told Variety. \u201cThe leadership thinks that that message can go out when there are so many behaviors that they\u2019re exhibiting which need calling out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt remains to be seen whether the next director-general \u2014 the leading contenders are former BBC director of television Charlotte Moore and RT\u00c9 boss Kevin Bakhurst \u2014 will be able to succeed where Davie did not.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe BBC did not respond to Variety\u2018s queries by press time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In April 2024, Tim Davie \u2014 the BBC director general who resigned on Sunday \u2014 was dealing with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[8827,88,45673],"class_list":{"0":"post-287255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-tim-davie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}