Rachel Jupp Named BBC News and Current Affairs Director

TheWrap reports Rachel Jupp has been named director of BBC News and Current Affairs, placing her in charge of one of the world's largest news operations nearly a year after Deborah Turness stepped down.

Jupp, who currently leads BBC News Documentaries and Long Form Journalism, starts later this month. TheWrap reports she'll oversee about 4,500 employees and a news service that reaches audiences in more than 40 languages.

"I'm honoured to be asked to lead BBC News," Jupp said in a statement Monday. She added she wants to champion the broadcaster's "independent and impartial journalism" and deepen audience trust.

Jupp steps into a role that's been run on an interim basis since last November, when Turness and then-director general Tim Davie resigned after criticism of a Panorama documentary. The BBC apologized for the edit, which it said gave the mistaken impression that President Donald Trump had directly called for violent action during his Jan. 6 speech. Trump has sued the broadcaster; the BBC has asked for the case to be thrown out.

Jonathan Munro has served as interim director of BBC News since Turness left. Jupp joined the BBC in 2013 after working at Channel 4 News. She's held roles including deputy editor of Newsnight and editor of Panorama, the very program at the center of the recent controversy. Most recently, she helped lead the BBC's work around generative AI.

This appointment gives the BBC a permanent news chief as it restructures its global news operation and cuts costs, according to TheWrap.