‘We have to fight’: BBC’s outgoing boss rallies staff amid Trump’s threats

Tim Davie says the BBC’s ‘enemies’ volition not specify the communicative astir the UK nationalist broadcaster.

The BBC’s outgoing brag has said that the United Kingdom’s nationalist broadcaster volition not beryllium defined by its “enemies” arsenic it faces a nationalist relations and enactment situation and ineligible threats from US President Donald Trump.

In a telephone with unit connected Tuesday, the BBC’s director-general, Tim Davie, said helium was “fiercely proud” of the publicly-funded broadcaster, adjacent arsenic helium acknowledged that it had made mistakes.

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“We volition thrive, and this communicative volition not conscionable beryllium fixed by our enemies. It’s our narrative,” Davie said.

Davie said the BBC needed to support its enactment successful the look of mounting attacks connected the media.

“I deliberation we person to combat for our journalism,” Davie said.

“There are hard times it goes through, but it conscionable does bully work,” helium added.

“And that speaks – it speaks louder than immoderate newspaper, immoderate weaponisation. We are the precise champion of what I deliberation we should beryllium arsenic a society.”

Davie’s comments travel arsenic the BBC grapples with accusations of bias pursuing the leak of an interior memo that accused producers of making misleading edits to footage of Trump’s code earlier the January 6, 2021, riot astatine the United States Capitol.

Trump has threatened to writer the BBC implicit the edited footage, aired successful the Panorama documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, by Friday, unless the broadcaster provides a “full and fair” retraction and compensation.

BBC executives person acknowledged that the footage, which appeared to amusement Trump straight encouraging the onslaught connected the US Capitol, was misleading, but person rejected claims of systemic bias.

Davie and the BBC’s caput of news, Deborah Turness, resigned connected Sunday, amid the fallout of the controversy, leaving the broadcaster leaderless arsenic it faces a mid-term authorities reappraisal of its governance and regulatory arrangements.

The BBC, which gets astir of its backing from astir 24 cardinal licence interest payers successful the UK, has faced accusations of bias from crossed the ideological spectrum.

Conservative politicians and media person agelong accused the BBC of having a wide bias, but the broadcaster has besides travel nether occurrence from the near implicit its sum of politically charged issues, specified arsenic Israel’s warfare successful Gaza.

Despite its critics, the BBC has been repeatedly rated arsenic the astir trusted quality outlet successful the UK.

In a survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism past year, 62 percent of respondents said they viewed the BBC arsenic trustworthy, much than for immoderate different outlet included successful the poll.

Polling connected the BBC’s alleged biases has shown nationalist sentiment divided on enactment lines.

In a YouGov canvass released connected Tuesday, 31 percent of respondents said the broadcaster favoured left-wing views, portion 19 percent said that it leaned right.

While 73 percent of Reform UK voters and 52 percent of Conservative Party voters perceived a left-wing bias, 32 percent of Labour Party voters identified a right-wing bias.

Half of the respondents said the BBC had nary governmental bias, oregon that they did not know.