The BBC model, a century-old public broadcasting service long considered a benchmark for the West, is creaking. The latest blow to its image of impartiality and rigor comes from the editing of two separate passages from a 2021 speech by Donald Trump, fabricated to reinforce the impression that the American president had explicitly incited the assault on Capitol Hill. This scandal, exploited by the right at home and globally, has been exploited with a delayed effect—more than a year after the offending segment was broadcast by the investigative journalism program Panorama—and now threatens to erupt into a sensational billion-dollar lawsuit, complete with an ultimatum, from the White House.
The legal action was outlined in black and white by The Donald's lawyers in a letter received by the company just hours ago. In the letter, the tycoon's entourage, already involved in similar initiatives against various "enemy" US media outlets, demanded that the old "Auntie"—as US viewers once familiarly called state television— "rectify" the blunder with a bowed head by the strict deadline of 10 p.m. on November 14th : "By fully and impartially retracting the documentary and any other false, defamatory, denigrating, misleading, or inflammatory statements about President Trump"; by broadcasting a mea culpa; and by offering "adequate compensation" for the "harm caused" and for allegedly attempting to "interfere in the presidential election." Under penalty of a daunting and deadly demand for forced compensation "not less than one billion dollars."
Trump, therefore, is not satisfied with the apology contained in a letter just released by the chairman of the board, Samir Shah, acknowledging what happened as a serious "error of judgment." Nor is he satisfied with the unprecedented resignations forced over the weekend by the director general, Tim Davie, the operational head of the entire British television giant, and the CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness. This turn of events was immediately commented on with venomous satisfaction by Washington, yet deemed insufficient: all the more so since it was accompanied by Shah's official defense of the two men's reputations—who was put on trial today before the House of Commons Culture Committee—and his refusal to accept the accusations of "institutional bias" echoed by Trump against the editorial staff. He also hurled insults at his "corrupt journalists."
