The BBC is facing a formal investigation by the United States' primary broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), concerning the editing of a speech by former President Donald Trump in its flagship Panorama programme.
The Core of the Controversy
This probe follows intense criticism that a Panorama documentary misled its audience by splicing together two parts of a speech Mr Trump delivered ahead of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The edit, which the BBC has since apologised for, created what the corporation called a "mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action."
According to reports, the Chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has written to executives at the BBC. It is understood that similar letters were sent to American broadcasters PBS and NPR to determine if the edited programme was aired in the US and potentially breached FCC regulations.
Legal Threats and Corporate Response
The situation escalated when Donald Trump threatened a billion-dollar lawsuit over the editorial decision. In response, BBC leaders opted to avoid a public dispute, acknowledging the splicing of the speech was an "error of judgment." However, they refused to pay any financial compensation.
When questioned by Fox News about the legal threat, Trump stated he felt he had "an obligation" to sue the broadcaster. It was later revealed that a similar edit of the same speech had been used in a 2022 episode of Newsnight.
In his correspondence, Chairman Carr highlighted that the two segments of speech used in the Panorama edit were spoken almost an hour apart. He argued, "In doing so, the BBC programme depicts President Trump voicing a sentence that, in fact, he never uttered. That would appear to meet the very definition of publishing a materially false and damaging statement."
Broader Regulatory Context
This incident occurs against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of public broadcasters in the US. Mr Carr noted that Congress is actively considering whether to halt taxpayer subsidies for NPR and PBS. He has previously asked the FCC Enforcement Bureau to investigate these networks.
This move was followed by former President Trump signing an executive order designed to slash public subsidies to the broadcasters, citing "bias" in their reporting.
A BBC spokesperson has stated, "We have had no further contact from President Trump’s lawyers at this point. Our position remains the same." In a letter to Trump's legal team, the BBC clarified that it did not hold the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama episode on its US channels, restricting it to UK viewers. The corporation also contended that the documentary did not cause harm, as Trump was re-elected shortly after its original broadcast.
