BBC Accused Of Misleading Edits In Panorama Trump Special

The BBC is at the centre of controversy following revelations it allegedly misrepresented remarks made by former US President Donald Trump during a Panorama special broadcast just days before the 2024 US election. An internal memo, recently disclosed, claims the programme “completely misled” viewers by interweaving separate sections of a speech delivered by Trump on 6 January 2021. This editorial choice reportedly created the impression he made statements he did not in fact utter in succession.

The hour-long edition, entitled Trump A Second Chance, aired on 28 October last year and has since drawn criticism from Michael Prescott, former external adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee. Prescott, who left his post in June, detailed his concerns in a 19-page memorandum submitted to the BBC board. He emphasised that the segment in question appeared to splice footage in a manner which altered both the content and the perceived intent of Trump’s address to supporters on the day of the Capitol riots.

According to Prescott, the original speech saw Trump encourage participants to march “peacefully and patriotically”, yet the Panorama edit seemingly merged this with a more inflammatory exhortation to “fight like hell” delivered later in the address. Such editorial decisions prompted Prescott to warn of a “very very dangerous precedent” for future news coverage. Despite these raised alarms, BBC executives stood by the broadcast, indicating that condensing speeches into shorter clips remains standard industry practice.

The internal assessment, led by David Grossman, senior editorial adviser to the committee, highlighted particular worry at the integrity of the edited material. Yet meetings with senior BBC news controllers yielded little movement, with the BBC defending its approach and denying an attempt to deceive the audience. Subsequent efforts by Prescott to engage with the BBC chairman also fell short of effecting a response or change in editorial policy.

The memo’s fallout extended beyond the BBC, with Donald Trump Jr criticising British broadcasters for the perceived misrepresentation. The BBC has stated it takes all feedback seriously and carries out rigorous internal review whenever concerns are flagged, but this instance casts a continued spotlight on the challenge of impartiality for one of Britain’s most influential media institutions.