Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the BBC must fight to restore trust after criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing out a speech by Donald Trump.
He said a review of the broadcaster’s charter would ensure a “truly responsible” BBC, defending it as a “national institution”.
BBC director general Tim Davie previously told staff that “we have to fight for our journalism” after the US president’s threat to sue the corporation for $1 billion (£760m).
A leaked internal BBC memo said the Panorama film misled viewers by stitching together parts of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech and making it appear he had explicitly encouraged the Capitol riot. BBC chairman Samir Shah apologized.
Davie resigned on Sunday along with BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness after mounting pressure over that memo.
He told staff: “We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but we have to fight,” adding that “this narrative will not just be given by our enemies, it is our narrative.”
He said the BBC had gone through “difficult times… but it just does a good job, and that speaks louder than any newspaper, any arms race.”
Later on Tuesday, Nandy thanked Davie and Turness for their work in guiding the BBC “through stormy times”.
He warned MPs attacking the broadcaster to “consider exactly what is at stake”.
He told the Commons: “There is a fundamental difference between raising serious concerns about editorial failings and members of this House launching a sustained attack on the institution itself, because the BBC is not just a broadcaster, it is a national institution that belongs to us all.”
He added that the BBC “has faced criticism from all sides for its coverage of highly contentious and controversial issues, and [has been] accused of giving too much airtime to certain parties and giving them too little.
The BBC’s charter expires at the end of 2027 and the once-a-decade review process will soon begin, which she says would help it “renew its mission for the modern era”.
Nandy said there was concern about how long it took the BBC to respond to criticism that undermined trust.
She acknowledged the “serious concerns and failings” of the BBC Arabic Service, which had been raised in the memo, but urged strong support for the World Service, which she said was “a light on the hill for people in places of darkness”.
BBC figures on the corporation’s editorial standards and guidelines committee will face questions at a hearing in the coming weeks.
Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson are expected to attend a session called by the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee.
Former editorial standards advisers Michael Prescott, author of the leaked memo, and Caroline Daniel will also be invited to testify.
Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston said there were “too many examples of bias” at the BBC and said the corporation needed “institutional change”.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said that while the BBC as an institution “should be treasured”, it has “continually let down those who pay for the licences”.
Trump threatened legal action if the BBC did not “completely and fairly” retract the Panorama program by Friday. The corporation has said it will respond in due course.
In Tuesday’s staff call, neither Davie nor the BBC chairman mentioned Trump’s legal threat.
Downing Street has said it is a “BBC matter”.
“It is clearly not the government’s place to comment on any ongoing legal matters,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.
“Our position is clear, the BBC is independent and it is up to the corporation to respond to questions about its editorial decisions.”
Asked if there were concerns the issue could affect Sir Keir Starmer’s contacts with Trump, the spokesman said the two had a “very strong” relationship.
The spokesman declined to clarify whether the BBC should apologize directly to the president.
