BBC Names Ex-‘Panorama’ Editor Rachel Jupp As Director Of News

The biggest job in British journalism officially has a new occupant. Rachel Jupp, the former editor of Panorama, has been named as the BBC’s next director of news, replacing Deborah Turness, who dramatically resigned last November amid an explosive editorial scandal over Donald Trump. Deadline revealed last week that Jupp was on a four-person shortlist. She fended off competition from: Jonathan Munro, who has been acting leader of the news unit since Turness quit; Channel 4 News editor Esme Wren; and Rhuanedd Richards, the BBC’s interim director of nations. Jupp, currently BBC News‘ director of news documentaries and long-form journalism, will step up later this month, overseeing the biggest newsroom in the UK. She will be paid a salary of £400,000 ($528,000), which is £50,000 less than her predecessor. Watch on Deadline Jupp has been based in the U.S. in recent years, developing and leading the BBC’s approach to AI. She has previously served as the editor of Panorama (prior to the investigative documentary series landing the BBC with a lawsuit from Trump) and deputy editor of Newsnight. Jupp also had a spell working closely with former BBC content chief Charlotte Moore as an editorial executive. She joined the BBC in 2013 from ITN, where she spent nine years, including serving as head of home news at Channel 4 News. BBC director-general Matt Brittin said: “Rachel is an outstanding editorial leader, widely regarded for her news judgment, fairness, and high standards. She brings a clarity of vision for the future, and the determined, collaborative approach needed to strengthen BBC News. “In a world of infinite choice, audiences are fragmenting, trust is scarce and facts are contested. BBC News remains the most used and most trusted news provider around the world and across the UK. It is our duty to recommit to the BBC’s distinctive journalistic mission while reinventing how we serve audiences, and to rise to these challenges. In Rachel, we have someone who can do both, with a fresh perspective to lead BBC News into a new era.” He added: “I would like to thank Jonathan Munro for his professionalism and leadership of BBC News in the past eleven months. I have been personally grateful for his deep experience, calm head and steady hand. He will return to his substantive role as deputy director of news and BBC News global director.” Jupp said: “I’m honoured to be asked to lead BBC News. I want to champion our vital, independent and impartial journalism, deepen the trust people have in the BBC and meet our audiences wherever they are. I’m grateful to Matt for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to working with our dedicated, brilliant teams across the UK and around the world.” Jupp will lead 4,500 journalists and will be appointed to the BBC’s executive committee. It is not clear if she will be elevated to the BBC board, on which Turness served before her resignation. Jupp will inherit a newsroom that is embracing online storytelling, but morale is low amid ongoing cuts at the BBC. BBC News announced in June that it was canceling shows like Radio 4’s The World Tonight to save £25M ($33.5M), but the division still needs to find another £25M of savings in the coming months, meaning many journalists are bracing for more bad news. BBC News was also battered by editorial scandals last year. The corporation pulled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone after the documentary was narrated by the son of a Hamas minister, while it was engulfed by an almighty crisis over a Panorama film about Trump, which misleadingly edited the speech he made ahead of the Capitol riots in 2021. The latter cost Turness her job and resulted in a $10 billion lawsuit from the U.S. president, which the BBC is fighting in a Florida court.