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- Susanna Reid defended the BBC following Tim Davie’s resignation over the Panorama documentary controversy
- Richard Madeley criticised the corporation for the misleading documentary edit
- The director-general stepped down citing the debate around BBC’s role, stating its commitment to transparency and accountability
Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley clashed over criticism of the BBC following the departure of Tim Davie.
The director-general resigned from his post yesterday evening following accusations of a speech by Donald Trump shown in a Panorama documentary being edited to make the president appear as if he had incited violence.
Good Morning Britain presenter Richard and his co-star Susanna clashed on Monday’s episode of GMB as they debated the issue, with the latter defending Davie over the controversy.
‘I’m going to stick up for the BBC, it’s in my DNA as much as ITV is,’ she said, adding: ‘We’re at a loss if we lose the BBC.’
Her co-star took a much more critical stance, insisting the situation is about ‘more than a misleading edit’ as he called out Davie’s ‘lack of any commentary’ last week.
He later added: ”I’m no fan of Donald Trump, but I’m no fan of lousy, bent journalism either, and I’m sorry, that Panorama documentary was lousy, bent, dishonest journalism and we should be ashamed of it.’
While Susanna agreed the documentary edit was ‘misleading’, she insisted her argument was about the BBC as a whole.
‘My defence is not of the documentary. My defence is of the BBC,’ she said.
She added: ‘21,000 people work for the BBC. To think that the director general has to be responsible for the output of all those 21,000 people is simply unrealistic.’
When Richard returned the debate to the edit, his co-star joked the head of ITV might have to resign because of her comments.
‘You just misrepresented what I said,’ she quipped. ‘You said I was defending the edit, I was defending the BBC.’
The BBC has faced sustained criticism for its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict as well as on trans issues, and Davie admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made under his leadership.
He said his decision to step aside was due to the ‘current debate’ around the role of the BBC.
But Davie – who has stepped down along with News CEO Deborah Turness – insisted the Corporation needed to remain ‘open, transparent and accountable’, but argued the BBC was ‘delivering well’.
‘In these increasingly polarised times, the BBC is of unique value and speaks to the very best of us. It helps make the UK a special place; overwhelmingly kind, tolerant and curious,’ he said.
‘Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.
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