🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Departures Labeled as Inside 'Takeover' by Former Newspaper Editor The recent departures of the British Broadcasting Corporation's chief executive and its news chief over allegations of partiality have been portrayed as an inside "takeover" by a former media executive. David Yelland, who previously ran the Sun newspaper from 1998 to 2003, claimed during a broadcast that the departures of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness came after systematic undermining by people associated with the corporation's leadership over an prolonged timeframe. "It was a takeover, and more serious than that, it was an inside job. There existed people inside the corporation, extremely connected to the board ... on the board, who have systematically undermined Tim Davie and his senior team over a duration of [time] and this has been continuing for a long time. What occurred recently wasn't merely in isolation," Yelland remarked. Governance Breakdown Highlighted "What has occurred here is there existed a failure of governance. I don't blame the chairman [Samir Shah] as an individual, but the role of the chair of any institution, a corporation – including the BBC – is to keep their chief executive, their senior executive, in role or dismiss them. And that has not occurred, because Tim Davie was not dismissed. He stepped down and so there was, that represents the definition of, a breakdown of governance." Context of Latest Controversy The departures on Sunday came after period of attacks from the White House and conservative commentators in the UK that were prompted by claims reported by the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper disclosed a leaked record of the conclusions of a former independent external adviser to its content standards committee, Michael Prescott, who left his role during the summer. He had questioned the modification of a address by Donald Trump in an episode of Panorama, which he asserted made it seem that Trump had supported the US Capitol incident. Two sections of the speech that were spliced together were spoken an sixty minutes apart, and the modification failed to mention that Trump had additionally stated he desired his followers to demonstrate non-violently. Internal Responses and Outside Perspectives Yelland's comments echo a mood of concern described by sources within BBC News on Sunday evening, with one saying: "It seems like a takeover. This represents the outcome of a campaign by partisan enemies of the BBC." Others, including Sky's previous policy correspondent Adam Boulton, have claimed the overall perception that Trump encouraged the event was fundamentally accurate. It is common practice to edit together sections of a lengthy address to accurately summarize it. Transition Arrangements and Organizational Impact Davie indicated his exit would wouldn't be immediate and that he was "managing" timings to ensure an "orderly transition" over the coming months. Turness commented controversy around the Panorama modification had "reached a point where it is causing damage to the BBC – an organization that I love." On Monday, the BBC reporter Nick Robinson revealed there had been paralysis at the top of the BBC because, while its senior reporters desired to express regret for the editing error – but maintain there was "no plan to mislead" the audience – the government-selected directors preferred to go further. Political Response and Broader Context Shah is expected to apologize on Monday to the Parliament's culture, media and sport committee, and to provide additional details on the Panorama program in his response to the panel, which had requested how he would address the issues. Speaking after the departures, the cabinet official Louise Sandher-Jones rejected claims the BBC was systematically partial. The public service official told Sky News: "When you look at the huge spectrum of national issues, regional issues, international affairs, that it has to report, I believe its content is very respected. When I speak to individuals who've got very strongly held views on those, they're continuing utilizing the BBC for much of their information, it's shaping their perspectives on this."