The morning after, I stick to my view that this wasn't a coup. Deborah Turness and her number two Jonathan Munro wrongly stuck to the view that the Trump edit was normal practice and not an attempt to mislead for too long. BBC Culture Editor Katie Razzall says that at the Board meeting on Thursday, Ms Turness' position was "ripped apart". By omission, we can work out from comments 'friends of Sir Robbie Gibb' that Sir Robbie probably led that - but there are others on the Board with journalistic backgrounds - Caroline Thomson, Marinella Soldi, even Muriel Gray. Some must have joined the pile-on.
By Thursday, the broad approach was to apologise for the Trump edit. The row might well have been about the terms; some in News were apparently arguing that a screen wipe should have been inserted. There might have been no intention to mislead, but the impact was to strengthen the case that the Donald was inciting violent protest before it was underway, a charge not yet tested in US Courts. Editing films in a way that merely creates an impression was the downfall of Peter Fincham, on his watch at BBC Television, when a trailer made the Queen look grumpy.
So Deborah Turness was probably pushed; sadly Tim Davie, as well as feeling haunted, felt he'd been her principal supporter and should walk with her.
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