The BBC has appointed former Panorama editor Rachel Jupp as its new director of news and current affairs, in the wake of the controversy over the corporation’s editing of a speech by US President Donald Trump.
Ms Jupp, currently director of BBC News documentaries and longform journalism, will take up the £400,000-a-year post this month. She will oversee about 4,500 staff and join the BBC’s Executive Committee.
She succeeds Deborah Turness, who resigned as the broadcaster’s chief executive in November last year alongside director-general Tim Davie after the row over a Panorama film featuring a spliced clip of Mr Trump’s January 6 speech.
Ms Jupp edited Panorama before the documentary at the centre of the dispute was broadcast, and has also served as an editorial executive for BBC Content and deputy editor of Newsnight. She joined the BBC in 2013 after nine years at Channel 4 News.
She said she was “honoured” to take on the role and would “champion our vital, independent and impartial journalism, deepen the trust people have in the BBC and meet our audiences wherever they are”.
“I am looking forward to working with our dedicated, brilliant teams across the UK and around the world,” she added.
BBC director-general Matt Brittin described Ms Jupp as “an outstanding editorial leader”, praising her news judgement, fairness and high standards.
“She brings a clarity of vision for the future, and the determined, collaborative approach needed to strengthen BBC News,” he said.
Mr Brittin thanked Jonathan Munro, who had been in charge for 11 months, for his “deep experience, calm head and steady hand”. Mr Munro will return to his substantive role as deputy director of News and BBC News global director.
The appointment comes as the BBC faces low morale and a programme of job cuts. About 550 redundancies have been announced this year, including 41 at BBC Sport, while a further estimated 2,000 roles are expected to be cut to deliver between £160 million and £500 million in savings across news, nations and content by 2028/29.
The corporation’s latest annual report said its financial outlook had “deteriorated” during the second half of 2025.
Mr Trump is suing the BBC for £7 billion over the Panorama edit. In the clip, he was heard saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The remarks about fighting were made more than 50 minutes apart in the original speech, and Mr Trump claims the edit falsely suggested he had incited the mob.
The BBC denies defamation. It has argued that the case should be dismissed because the programme was broadcast for a UK audience, not in the United States, and said its apology made clear that the editing error was unintentional.
