Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s head of television news, has announced
changes that include pooling journalists who will work across the One
O’Clock, Six O’Clock and Ten O’Clock bulletins and put greater effort
into breaking stories on News 24.
A new daytime editor will replace the current editors of the One O’Clock and Six O’Clock News.
The
BBC said the changes are a result of many conversations that Horrocks
has had with staff since he took on the role in September and are
designed to reflect the increasing importance of News 24 in the BBC’s
overall strategy.
Horrocks said: “BBC television news has been
performing very strongly, across all of its services. We have access to
the finest news content in the world.
“We need to be original,
fast and right. We need to put continuous news at the heart of our
operations and we need to be in good shape to embrace new technologies
and new audience needs in terms of watching and accessing news.
“I
am confident that these changes will enable our news teams to continue
to deliver the world-class, trusted news that the audience expects of
us.”
The changes include key appointments. Rachel Attwell, who
is currently head of BBC News 24, BBC World and BBC Parliament will
become deputy head of news, taking on wider editorial responsibilities
and deputising for Peter Horrocks across all output.
A new post
of controller of News 24 will be created. The controller will have
editorial, managerial and financial control over the channel. This role
will report directly to the head of TV news. The post will be
advertised externally, as will the existing post of head of world news,
currently held on an acting basis by Richard Porter.
The head of BBC FOUR News will report in to the new head of world news.
A
new post of editor, daytime news, will replace the individual
editorship of the One O’Clock News and the Six O’Clock News.
Additionally, staff will work on a single rota across the One, Six and
Ten O’Clock bulletins with some dedicated effort for each programme
being retained.
Posts saved in the newsroom will be re-allocated
to strengthen the editorial process around News 24 and to create a
shared pool between television news and newsgathering.
New
systems also include more co-commissioning, greater consistency of
branding and a wider sharing of edited material to ensure that stories
get to air with the greatest possible speed.
In terms of job cuts
the BBC has said there is no further net increase in staff job losses
as a result of the new plans, although one additional senior post will
be lost by merging the editorship of the One O’Clock and Six O’Clock
bulletins.
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