A leaked memo has led to resignations at the top levels of the BBC, and shaken confidence in media. Photo: Henry Nicholls/ AFP Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS
From editing error to boardroom exit, how the BBC's reputation took a blow and what this means for global journalism
Since its inception, the BBC has stood as one of the world's most trusted news institutions, standing for journalistic integrity, accuracy, and balance.
But this week, that trust has taken a severe blow after a damaging editing scandal, involving President Donald Trump, which has ignited a firestorm of outrage, accusations of political bias, and an existential crisis for the public broadcaster.
The BBC's top leader and head of its news division have both now resigned, the BBC has issued a rare public apology, and Trump himself threatened a US$1 billion (NZ$1.7 billion) lawsuit, accusing the organisation of defamation.
The controversy centres on a Panorama documentary in which a crucial section of Trump's speech was misleadingly edited, altering its tone and meaning.
"When media organisations breach the trust they have with their audience, they are in big trouble," long-time journalism educator Jim Tully tells The Detail.
"It's crucial our readers, listeners, viewers trust us, and anything we do to undermine that trust is potentially quite harmful to the reputation of the organisation."
He says the BBC "sees itself as the bastion of impartial and accurate reporting, they have staked their reputation on that since the 1930s. Most people would see the BBC as a trustworthy media organisation".
But he believes the editing scandal, which follows a string of other controversies, will make it hard for the broadcaster to rebuild and regain public trust.
"I think the resignations of people at that level should send a message to the public that they take matters seriously, and people have obviously fallen on the sword because of the significant damage that is emerging.
"[But] I think it will be much more of a challenge [to rebuild] this time. And it's going to have a potentially significant effect on the extent to which people think 'oh yeah, it's from the BBC, therefore it's correct and I can rely on it and I can believe in it'.
"Once that goes, it's very difficult to reclaim."
For many, the story cuts deeper than just one mistake. It feeds into a growing trust unease about whether any media organisation remains truly impartial in an age of polarisation, algorithms, and instant outrage.
"There are always surveys, annually coming out, in which we don't figure much ahead of used car salesmen and the like," Tully says. "It's become fashionable to clobber the media."
He says the ethical guidelines for journalists are "pretty clear and widely accepted".
"You may edit in a way for clarity and conciseness because journalists are not required to report everything that somebody says, otherwise, we would be merely stenographers.
"So, we exercise judgement as to what is interesting and relevant, and that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
"The issue arises, of course, when in making those edits, you create a situation where the intended message of the interviewee has been disrupted, and you have misrepresented through selected editing what they were saying."
The BBC has promised a full internal review, tighter editorial checks, and renewed transparency.
Freelance UK correspondent Sean Hogan is in London and tells The Detail that since the scandal emerged, more than 500 complaints have been sent to the broadcaster about the programme.
"I think the general public sentiment is an increased level of scepticism," he says.
"People are calling it a storm, a crisis, a disaster. It's quite extraordinary.... some are saying it's the biggest scandal the BBC has faced in decades.
"Public trust has been continuously eroded, and they've got to change the narrative somehow."
He says the scandal is front page lead news and is showing no signs of going away.
"UK media love to hold a microscope very closely to the BBC. It's never far from the headlines, so it wasn't a surprise to see this story splashed all over our screens and front pages, since it broke, and it really hasn't relented.
"I'll give you a few of the headlines there's 'BBC meltdown', 'BBC humiliation', and 'The BBC in crisis'. And that's just a few of them.
"Now, to be fair to the BBC, their own website and channel haven't shied away from the story and have covered the story extensively."
The scandal is becoming more than a BBC story.
Jim Tully says there are lessons the entire industry - that in an era where truth is fragile and trust is currency, even the most respected newsrooms are one mistake away from crisis.
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