Former Sunday Times Insight editor Christopher Hird has been named as the new editor of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Hird replaces Iain Overton who resigned as editor of the bureau last month in the wake of the Newsnight programme which reported false claims that a senior Conservative politician from the Thatcher era was a paedophile. Overton allowed Bureau reporter Angus Stickler to be seconded to the BBC to cover the story.
Hird has worked on titles including the Economist, Daily Mail, New Statesman (as deputy editor) as well as the Sunday Times.
Hird started working in television in 1983 as a reporter on Channel Four’s Diverse Reports and in 1986 he co-founded Fulcrum TV. In 2008 he founded documentary production company Dartmouth Films.
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Chairman of trustees for the bureau James Lee said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Christo as our new editor. He has exactly the right combination of experience, skills and relationships that we need as we move ahead.”
Hird said: “This is going to be a great challenge, about which I am tremendously excited. I am convinced that the Bureau serves a very real need in today’s media world and that it can make an important contribution to the all-important work of investigative journalism.”
Rachel Oldroyd will continue in her role as deputy editor.
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