BBC chief Tim Davie, head of news Deborah Turness quit amid Trump speech editing scandal

The director general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Tim Davie announced Sunday that he was resigning following a row over the editing of a documentary about US President Donald Trump.

The broadcaster's head of news, Deborah Turness, also resigned after accusations that the BBC's flagship documentary programme Panorama had edited a speech by Trump in a misleading way.

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The BBC had been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper which cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, a speech made by Trump, and other issues.

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Tim Davie, who has led the British Broadcasting Corporation since 2020, said he was standing down after "reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times".

Widely respected around the world, the BBC has in recent years been accused of failing to maintain its commitment to impartial news, struggling to navigate the fractious political and cultural environment.

In the Panorama documentary broadcast last year, Trump was shown telling his supporters that "we're going to walk down to the Capitol" and that they would "fight like hell", a comment he made in a different part of his speech.

He had actually said his supporters would "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women".

Trump, in a social media post on Sunday, accused the two executives of having tried to influence a US presidential election. "On top of everything else, they are from a foreign country, one that many consider our number one ally. What a terrible thing for democracy!" he said.