BBC looking into allegations over another Trump speech edit

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LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s BBC said on Thursday it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph newspaper, over the editing by another of its programmes of a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The British Broadcasting Corporation has been plunged into its biggest crisis in decades after two senior leaders resigned following accusations of bias, including in the way a speech by Trump was edited in a Panorama documentary.

Trump has threatened a $1 billion lawsuit against the public broadcaster over that film.

The Telegraph, which initially broke that story, reported on Thursday that another BBC programme, Newsnight, also selectively edited footage of the same speech, in a report broadcast in June 2022, two years before Panorama’s edit.

The paper said the Newsnight edit was similar to the Panorama version.

“The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards,” a BBC spokesperson said in response to the latest Telegraph report.

“This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”

The BBC apologised on Monday for the Panorama documentarywhich spliced together three parts of a Trump speech on January 6, 2021, the day his supporters stormed the Capitol, creating the impression he had called for violence.

His lawyers said the BBC must retract its documentary by Friday or face a lawsuit for “no less” than $1 billion.

They also demanded that the BBC issue an apology and compensate Trump for what it said was “overwhelming reputational and financial harm”, according to a letter, seen by Reuters.

The BBC has said it is considering how to respond.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrew Heavens)