Director of the BBC’s Global News
Participant: We Media Miami ’10
Richard Sambrook
The division contains BBC World Service radio, BBC Monitoring, BBC World television and the BBC’s international facing online news services. He took up the post in September 2004.
Previously as Director of BBC News from 2001 to 2004, Richard led the world’s biggest broadcast news operation. And before that, from 1999 to 2001, he was Deputy Director of the News division.
He also served as acting Director of Sport from April to October 2000 during the then Director-General Greg Dyke’s restructuring of the corporation.
During his career in BBC News, Richard has worked as a producer and programme editor on the BBC’s national TV news programmes.
He was senior producer and deputy editor of the Nine O’Clock News during which time he worked on location in the Far East, Middle East, Europe, Russia and the United States and helped produce campaign coverage for three General Elections.
He also produced the BBC’s news coverage of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and co-ordinated the coverage of the war in Bosnia.
Richard went on in 1992 to be appointed News Editor, BBC Newsgathering – the department which brings in coverage from around the world for all BBC radio and TV news and daily current affairs programmes.
In 1996 Richard was appointed Head of Newsgathering and led a major expansion of the BBC’s overseas news capability, creating a network of “hub” bureaux in key regions around the world and building the BBC’s live broadcasting capability.
Richard’s first job with the BBC was in 1980 as a sub-editor in the radio newsroom.
Before that, he was a trainee journalist with Thomson Regional Newspapers between 1977 and 1980 when he worked with Celtic Press in the Welsh Valleys and the South Wales Echo.
Born in Canterbury, Richard was educated at Oakwood Grammar School in Maidstone, Kent, and then Reading University where he obtained a BA in English. He also completed an MSc in Politics at Birbeck College, London University.
Beth Laing is the project manager for iFOCOS, which organizes the We Media conferences, awards and community. Prior to working with We Media she worked in a variety of new media roles with Knight Ridder, Infonautics and Access Atlanta. She is currently on the board of the Atlanta Women’s Alliance (AWA), Community Advisory Board for Junior League Dekalb and a Leadership Dekalb 2010 class member.