I don’t like the word unprecedented. But I used it twice in less than 24 hours.
The first time on Sunday night, after the departure of Tim Davie and Deborah Treessen. That, in fact, may involve a bit of overreach.
After this, it happened before the BBC. Back in 2004, two old figures left – not accepting on the same day, but on the following days.
The late Chairman of the BBC, Gavyn Davies, and the Director General, Greg Dyke, resigned in light of the Hutton Report.
That is the inquiry into the death of government scientist Dr David Kelly who found the BBC’s reporting on the Iraq “sexed-up dossier” disturbing.
But my use of nothing since Monday felt like a good fit.
A President of the United States to threaten the BBC for $ 1bn is completely new territory for the corporation.
We have seen a series of US media operations in the past launched by Donald Trump.
Global Global paid him $16M to settle a dispute over an incitement to an interview on CBS with former Vice-President Kamala Harris.
ABC News paid him $15M to settle a defamation lawsuit after its anchor falsely claimed he was found “liable”.
Now the President has the BBC in his sights. He wants a full retraction of the panorama documentary, an apology for the “false, frightening, misleading statements” for him to the detriment “.
If he doesn’t get them by Friday, he put the BBC “on notice” that he will seek damages of “not less than $1,000,000,000”.
Whether you are a supporter or a detractor of the BBC, I think everyone would agree that these are trying times for the corporation.
The events developed rapidly in a week.
First we get a series of claims about the panorama documentary and also more systemic bias that the telegraph first made.
Six days later came the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Debah Rebah Deborah Tiwain.
Quickly some raised concerns about a politically orchestrated campaign against the BBC from the right. Some say it’s all about accountability despite gross failures.
Now the BBC is facing a potentially huge legal battle with Donald Trump.
It should change the success of the celebrity trackors with many famous finale of the program last Thursday. Instead the BBC has fallen into a crisis that some would argue of its own making.
It took until Monday to apologize for editing the panorama and opening the idea that the corporation suffered from institutional bias.
The conversation I did with BBC Chair Samir Shah should have been done earlier – with DG or Deborah Torness last week, as the headlines went up.
Forgiveness should come later. Now the BBC is on the back foot.
It will take strong leadership to steer a course through. But two of the leaders who are likely to be able to continue the ship are now out.