Cath Hearne, editorial co-ordinator for BBC Nations and Regions, has been appointed editor of BBC London News.
She replaces Quentin Smith, who moved this week to become output editor of BBC South East’s regional news programme, South East Today.
She takes up her new post on 20 August.
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At Nations and Regions, Hearne was responsible for co-ordinating the launch of the regional weekday current affairs programme Inside Out as well as integrating the regional optout slots into the BBC One politics programme, The Politics Show.
Hearne was also integral to the move of all English regions programming onto BBC One, having most recently overseen the transfer of the afternoon news bulletin to the channel and integration of weekend bulletins.
Hearne also worked on the BBC’s Breakfast and the Ten O’Clock News launches, overseeing editorial integration between Nations and Regions and Network News, as well as the set redesign for regional newsrooms last summer.
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Prior to her work at Nations and Regions, Hearne won an RTS best regional programme award as a studio director on BBC North East’s regional current affairs programme.
She has also worked for File on Four and was a director on Premier Passions, a five-part BBC One documentary broadcast in 1998 following the fortunes of Sunderland FC.
Executive editor for BBC London, Mike Macfarlane said Hearne had “a very clear and embracing vision” for BBC London News.
“Coupled with her tremendous experience of dealing with Network News, I am confident she’ll be a huge asset to the programme.”
By Wale Azeez
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