BBC forced to issue apology over another Donald Trump broadcasting error | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV
The BBC has issued an apology for the BBC News at Six report published on the corporation’s Corrections and Clarifications page this week. The correction was published on Wednesday, November 26, and refers to a report regarding billionaire Elon Musk’s claims that US President Donald Trump would “lose the election” if it weren’t for him.
The BBC’s reporting issue occurred on June 6, and the company has now issued the following statement to provide clarity: “In the introduction to a report about Elon Musk’s claims that he was without Donald Trump If we were to lose the election, we falsely reported that Mr. Musk was offering people $1 million “to vote Republican” by holding lotteries in swing states, including Pennsylvania.
“To be clear, to potentially earn this money, individuals did not need to vote Republican, but instead had to be registered voters who had signed a pro-U.S. Constitution petition by America PAC, the campaign group Mr. Musk founded to support Republican candidate Donald Trump.”
The correction comes weeks after the BBC was forced to issue an apology for a Panorama episode that spliced together Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech and made the US leader appear to be inciting violence in Washington DC.
The BBC confirmed that the episode would not be shown again, stating that it was “under the mistaken impression that President Trump was directly calling for violent action.”
Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion in damages, but the company rejected his claims for damages.
However, BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News Director Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday 9 November after the Panorama scandal hit the headlines.
Addressing the Panorama edit, Davie told the BBC: “I think we made a mistake and there was an editorial breach and I think some responsibility had to be taken.”
The BBC put out an application for the role earlier this week and it is understood Davie will remain in the role until his successor is hired.
