BBC crisis: right-wing coup or bias crackdown?

The BBC is in meltdown: both the Director General Tim Davie and the Head of News Deborah Turness have quit in the same weekend after a leaked memo accused the corporation of systemic political bias - an edit of Donald Trump’s speech ahead of the January 6th riots at heart of the memo. 

The President has now piled in, threatening a billion dollar lawsuit.

So what is really going on? Was this a right-wing coup against public service broadcasting - or the consequence of genuine bias inside the BBC?

And could this crisis now reshape the future of impartial news - not just at the BBC, but across Britain’s media?

The BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologised for an “error of judgement” over the edit of the president’s speech and said that the corporation had taken action on other areas that had been highlighted in the memo - and would take further action if necessary.  

On this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by the political editor of the Sunday Telegraph Camilla Turner and the editor of Prospect magazine Alan Rusbridger.