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Deborah Turness appointed BBC News CEO

BBC News appointed Deborah Turness as new CEO

BBC has announced the appointment of Deborah Turness as CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs. 

Turness was until now the CEO of ITN, having also been the President of NBC News International. In her statement, Turness said there “has never been a greater need for the BBC’s powerful brand of impartial, trusted journalism”.

“It is a great privilege to be asked to lead and grow BBC News at a time of accelerated digital growth and innovation, when its content is reaching more global consumers on more platforms than ever before,” she said.

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Turness is replacing Fran Unsworth whose departure from BBC was announced in September, but BBC actually upgraded the position from director to CEO in order to reflect its “ambition to continue to build the BBC’s global news brand and continue to grow its news services”.

Together with the new title came a raise, as Deborah Turness will be paid a salary of £400,000, which is around £60,000 more than Unsworth had. 

According to U.K.’s Press Gazzette, Turness takes over at a challenging time, after a major restructuring involving the loss of hundreds of jobs and a push to increase the broadcaster’s presence outside London.

Read Also:  BBC cutting staff by 6% - biggest reduction in 5 years

It is also not a secret that BBC is struggling with its revenues, as according to The Times reportage last August, UK ministers had rejected pleas from BBC bosses to increase the license fee in line with inflation – which would produce a real-terms cut to the BBC budget.

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