BBC apologizes for edit of Trump speech

[Valletta]

In a letter to the White House released late Thursday, BBC Chair Samir Shah said he and the corporation were "sorry for the edit of the President's speech " acknowledging that the way the footage was spliced created "the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action."
But despite the apology, the statement made clear it does not concede the defamation claim. "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim," the corporation said.The documentary — titled Trump: A Second Chance? — was commissioned by the BBC from an external production company and aired shortly before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It spliced together separate parts of Trump's speech on the day of the Capitol riots, even though the excerpts came from moments almost an hour apart.

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5608004/bbc-apology-trump-speech

They were financially smart to make the apology.

 

[Larniavc]

While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim,

Yeah that makes sense. I can’t see any harm done. Trump fans would never have been taken in by something as simple as being told something that was clearly untrue on the tele.

 

[rebornfree]

The BBC has really let us (Brits) down. What they have done is downright dishonest. They certainly needed to apologise. I hope Trump won't sue as it's the licence fee payer (us - though not me personally as I have reached the age of having a free licence) who will end up footing the bill. The senior execs have fallen on their swords but I feel the accountability should be further down the line. Although the incident happened on their watch I cannot see how the Director General nor the Head of News can possibly know everything that goes on in this massive Corporation. They have to trust the lower levels of management, some of whom have gone too far in their journalism, as they did with Sir Cliff Richard a few years ago. I love other parts of the BBC though: the overseas news reports and the Parliamentary political reports especially.

 

[Servus]

Trump was edited to make him look bad, and Harris was edited (by CBS) to make her look good.

 

[IceJad]

I always wonder what kind of sorry it was. "Sorry I got caught" or "Sorry I failed journalism". I suspect it is the prior not the latter. How can you regret something after 2 years being in the know? Occam's razor says you're not, you are forced to say sorry for getting caught being a partisan that takes tax payers' money and propagate manufactured narratives. It goes beyond Trump. The Gaza/Israel conflict, JK Rowling transphobia issue, the late Queen's storming off issue. There has been consistent preference shown by the BBC to champion left leaning narratives, narratives that make the established customs, held believes and way of life look bad.

I for one would want Trump to go ahead with the lawsuit, I care little whether he will win but the discovery stage will expose so much more of the BBC than anything this leaked memo could ever do.

 

[johansen]

i don't understand why it took 2 years to figure this deception out.

 

[Valletta]

I always wonder what kind of sorry it was. "Sorry I got caught" or "Sorry I failed journalism". I suspect it is the prior not the latter. How can you regret something after 2 years being in the know? Occam's razor says you're not, you are forced to say sorry for getting caught being a partisan that takes tax payers' money and propagate manufactured narratives. It goes beyond Trump. The Gaza/Israel conflict, JK Rowling transphobia issue, the late Queen's storming off issue. There has been consistent preference shown by the BBC to champion left leaning narratives, narratives that make the established customs, held believes and way of life look bad.

I for one would want Trump to go ahead with the lawsuit, I care little whether he will win but the discovery stage will expose so much more of the BBC than anything this leaked memo could ever do.

Most people would be shocked at just how much the major media sticks to a particular narrative and how little real investigative journalism there is.

 

[johansen]

Most people would be shocked at just how much the major media sticks to a particular narrative and how little real investigative journalism there is.

nah they know it and don't care or they have blind faith, not in the media, but in the "institutions" like the 3 letter agencies.
most people i know are that polarized.

as for the media lying they haven't cared since dan wrather reporting live from a green screen in iraq...

 

[IceJad]

i don't understand why it took 2 years to figure this deception out.

I credit the Telegraph for even bringing this to light. Else the memo would have languished within the BBC like an open secret no one wants to talk about.

I heard somewhere when I was just listening to Youtube that one Youtuber said this happened when you let the narrative set the truth not the truth setting the narrative. Paraphrasing as I can't recall who said it and how exactly it was said. But his point was poignant and salient.