BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologized for an “error in judgement” in editing a clip of a speech by US President Trump in a Docymate Documentary Smascast last year.
In a letter to the culture, media and sport committee, Sah said more than 500 complaints had been made about the documentary since the publication of a memo Last week criticized the panorama editing.
Shah’s apology comes a day after BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness announced their resignations.
Read the letter in its entirety.
Enclose letter addressed to Caroline Dinenage, Chaird of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Dear Caroline,
Please see the attached letter to you and the Committee.
You will learn of the resignation yesterday of both Director-General, Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News, Debora Kahuwala. As I said in my statement yesterday, both have shown unwavering support and commitment to the BBC.
Tim Davie is an extraordinary director and leader not only in the BBC but in the UK’s creative industries. He has led the BBC with great integrity, great talent and remarkable tenacity and resilience, transforming the BBC to serve all audiences. Deborah comfort is an outstanding leader of BBC News, who, at an unprecedented time, has brought the operation with real commitment and a clear vision of the future. I am very grateful to Tim and Deborah for their service.
I and the BBC board remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure a smooth transition as we appoint a new director-general and strive to serve all audiences and certainly the future of the BBC.
The BBC will make both of these letters public.
Samir Shah
INSIDE THE BBC
Dear Caroline,
Thank you for your letter of 4 November.
I would like to record the BBC’s position on a number of issues raised last week following a letter from Edhael to the BBC’s Committee (EGSC). In doing so, I will also address the questions you asked me in your letter.
You asked for a copy of Mr Pricecott’s letter which I enclose.
I want to make it clear that we take Mr Presscott’s concerns seriously, and take the points he makes very seriously. The board considered Mr Price’s memo at a meeting on 17 October. I met with Mr Price and discussed the next steps.
It is worth saying at the outset that some of the scope of MR Price’s memo implies that he “didn’t discover” a list of stories and issues that the BBC is looking for”. That interpretation is simply not true. The issues raised by Mr Prescott are exactly the issues considered by the EGSC and the board. know what needs to be done. It’s just that: The committee’s job is to check the bad news, not the good news.
Sometimes mistakes are one offs, others can teach to be subject to problems. The job will not be completed. But it is only by recognizing and highlighting these issues and implementing changes that the BBC is demonstrating its commitment to continuous improvement.
There is another view that makes money on the coverage that the BBC has done nothing to solve these problems. That is also not true. For three years MR Price has been an adviser to the EGSC, the BBC has: Published corrections where we got things wrong; Revised editorial guidance to make the BBC’s position on issues clear; Makes leadership changes where problems focus on identifying issues; and brought formal disciplinary measures.
During the three years Mr Price was an adviser to the Committee, the BBC produced thousands of hours of outstanding journalism: on television, on radio, worldwide and internationally. This does not diminish the importance of the BBC’s boards in addressing the issues raised by Mr Price. But it is also important that a sense of perspective is maintained.
Mr Price relied on research conducted by the EGSC itself to make his points. This letter, too, relies on that research. However, Mr Price’s memo is his personal account of the meetings he was at. It does not show a complete picture of the discussions, decisions and actions taken. In answering the questions you asked, I hope to put that right.
First, the EGSC accepts that there are times when the BBC gets things wrong or our reporting needs more context and explanation. This is the case with some of the issues discussed in Mr PriceCTot’s letter, where BBC executives fully accept the conclusions of the EGSC’s research. These include the car insurance story, the uninsured thing, the Scarlett Blake Case, the ICJ Order, and reporting on the naza figures in Gaza. Actions in these areas range from published corrections and clarifications to new editorial guidance issued. In other cases considered by the EGSC, disciplinary action is taken.
On top of specific stories, the EGSC also identified concerns about underlying problems – for example the Arabic service or highly formal journalism. These two areas are discussed at length by the EGSC and action is taken to solve this type of problem. The BBC Arabic team has been structured, a new header of speaking Arabic quality and Editorial standards have been designated in the Social Media service which is confirmed by the people who appear in the service. In the UK, BBC News has appointed a new Executive Editor of Editorial quality and standards to manage Domestic News output. BBC News is to appoint a new director of news documentaries and long-form journalism to oversee today’s output.
The leadership changes set out above are a determined attempt to address the underlying problems identified by the EGSC and MR Price’s MROCTTET. Only through this action can we ensure that the broader change is not only the immediate correction of individual stories, answered. We will monitor closely: for example, this week, the EGSC will receive a planned update on BBC Arabic. But let me be absolutely clear here: If problems persist, we will take further action.
What I have set out above are the actions that followed the Egsc discussion where the committee agreed and reached a consensus view. Mr. Prescista may have judged that these individual actions were not enough. That is his opinion – and it is of course for him to form that judgement. However, it is not true to say that concerns are ignored or action is not taken.
Michael Prescott’s memo provides only a partial description of the evidence received and considered by the EGSC.
For example, in the United States section of the US, the EGSC admitted there was an issue with Iowa Bold but also noted that the overall coverage of the BBC was “much better, especially online”.
And when reviewing sex and gender identity, Egcsct found most of the coverage met the BBC’s PWartality standards and accuracy.
Let me turn now to a specific story. Editing of President Trump’s speech on January 6 in panorama, Trump: a second chance?
The editing of President Trump’s January 6 speech has attracted significant attention. This issue was the subject of discussion at the EGSC in January 2025 and again in May 2025. There was concern expressed by members of the committee, as well as GR Prescott, in the editing of the GR that was edited. However, the EGSC also heard from BBC News that the purpose of editing the clip, was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that it was received by the supporters of President Trump and what was happening on the ground at that time. This issue is considered and discussed as a more extensive review of the US Election Coverage, given by a specific program program and not attracted to many elections in the audience, so the point has not been followed at the time. The points raised in the review have been relocked by the Karorama Team, including decision-making in this edit. At night, it is better to take a more formal action.
Since the publication of MR Price’s memo, this issue has led to over 500 complaints. This is now dealt with in the normal way. It also prompted further reflection by the BBC. The conclusion of that thought is that we accept that the way it was edited gives the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologize for the error of judgement.
You ask a lot of questions around the high-level review of the effectiveness of the EGSC. I insisted on reviewing in June, before Mr Price’s memo. I have had many discussions on how to improve the EGSC processes and how they work, including input from reviewer Chris Saul. That work is not yet finished.
My goal is to stimulate and strengthen the process so that the EGSC can act quickly, and monitor the agreed actions to ensure implementation. The plan is to expand the agenda to include all BBC output – as all BBC programming, not just journalism, is bound by editorial guidelines. I will change the composition of the committee to maintain alignment with the changed role and to ensure clearer accountability. This revision of EGE-Engineering at EGSC will come before the board in December.
In addition, I would like to set up some additional actions:
– Going forward, the board will re-commit to visiting, each and every item set out in Michael Prescott’s Memorandum, and taking further action as appropriate. We are flexible about the conclusions we reach and the actions taken.
– Where we put the measurements, in response to the original EGSC research, we repeated those content assessments to check the changes in the output changes.
– If we have accepted that things fall within our editorial standards, we will ensure that amendments to the relevant online stories are made where they are deemed appropriate.
I want to assure you and the committee that I am absolutely clear that the BBC must be promoting bias. It is needed now more than ever. All of the policies and practices we have implemented so far, and will implement as we reshape EGSC, will be driven by the need to maintain the highest standards in all of our content – Video, Audio and online.
As chair I have responsibility for that. I hope this letter shows that the BBC has taken significant action over the last three years. I will personally ensure that the BBC continues to take the necessary actions in the future to ensure that the BBC retains the trust and confidence of the public we serve.
I would like to conclude by emphasizing the importance of high-quality, independent journalism in today’s polarized society. There is an increasing need for the public to be informed in an unbiased, honest and evidence-based manner that they can trust. That is the sacred work of the BBC.
Samir Shah
INSIDE THE BBC