Headhunters ?

This wasn't a coup, it was a mess that started way back in May.  The BBC's Editorial Standards and Guidelines Committee, a subset of the BBC Board, met in the Boardroom at Broadcasting House on the 12th May.  All the four full members were round the table -  Samir Shah, Chair; Tim Davie, Director-General; Sir Robbie Gibb, Non-executive director; and Deborah Turness, CEO, BBC News and Current Affairs. 

Also present, Michael Prescott, hired as an independent editorial adviser, and David Grossman, Senior Editorial Policy Advisor.  On the agenda, a formal response from BBC Global Editor Jonathan Munro to Grossman's report on the BBC's coverage of the US Presidential Election; it's not clear when that report was tabled - its genesis was from concerns raised by Michael Prescott about a Panorama election preview, way back in October 2024, and it was probably commissioned at the Editoral Standards meeting in November.  

Mr Munro wasn't at the May meeting, but the Prescott dossier records his defence of the editing of  Trump's January 6th speech thus “There was no attempt to mislead the audience about the content or nature of Mr Trump’s speech before the riot at the Capitol. It’s normal practice to edit speeches into short form clips.”

Deborah Turness presumably defended Mr Munro's line. Who knows what the BBC's Editor In Chief, Tim Davie said ? Or indeed what BBC Chair Samir Shah said. Michael Prescott is clear that the debate was closed down. 

The Munro defence was wrong, and anyone who thought it was right needs to acknowledge that. Are the resignations proportionate ?  Probably not - but the BBC, through Verify and the "trust is earned" ad campaign has adopted a "holier than thou" position, and eating of humble pie over this fundamental error, which has taken too long to surface, wouldn't be enough. 

So I expect Mr Munro to follow soon. Then, with Samir Shah himself on shaky ground,  a hunt for a DG, and, ideally, a Deputy DG and a new Director of News.