BBC chief resigns after row over Trump documentary edit

London: 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.

Deborah Turness, the corporation's head of News, has also stepped down from her role over the issue.

Davie and Turness, resigned after accusations that the BBC's flagship documentary programme Panorama had edited a speech by Trump in a misleading way, the broadcaster said.

Britain's public broadcaster has been criticised for editing a speech Trump made on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington.

Critics said that the way the speech was edited for a BBC documentary was misleading and cut out a section where Trump said that he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

In a letter to staff, Davie said quitting the job after five years "is entirely my decision."

"Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility," Davie said.

He said that he was "working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months."

Turness said that the controversy about the Trump documentary "has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC - an institution that I love. As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me."

Pressure on the broadcaster's top executives has been growing since the Daily Telegraph newspaper published parts of a dossier complied by Michael Prescott, who had been hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.