February 2, 2024

BBC News Channel names Annita McVeigh, Ben Brown and Geeta Guru-Murthy as chief presenters

They join four other chief presenters in the UK, plus two in Washington DC and one in Singapore.

BBC News chief presenters Annita McVeigh, Geeta Guru-Murthy and Ben Brown. Picture: BBC

Annita McVeigh, Ben Brown and Geeta Guru-Murthy have been appointed as chief presenters on the BBC News Channel.

They join a chief presenter team of Matthew Amroliwala, Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings and Maryam Moshiri in the UK, with Sumi Somaskanda and Caitríona Perry in Washington DC and Steve Lai in Singapore.

The line-up leads the BBC News Channel after its launch in April last year from the merger of the domestic and world channels.

Brown will continue presenting BBC News at One alongside his new role. He has worked at the BBC since 1988 in roles such as Moscow correspondent and as a war correspondent covering conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Israel-Gaza, and the Gulf war of 1991.

McVeigh and Guru-Murthy were two of five female BBC presenters who had been waiting in limbo off-air for more than nine months after they were unsuccessful in landing the initial chief presenter roles available last year, according to Deadline. Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera were also reported to be part of that group.

The BBC said in its press release that the latest appointments were made in accordance with its HR procedures.

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McVeigh began her career in local newspapers in Northern Ireland before working for BBC NI and then as Ireland correspondent. She has also been special correspondent for BBC News 24 and the BBC News at Ten, working in America, the Middle East and across Europe.

Guru-Murthy has presented on BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC One news bulletins and has anchored coverage of major stories like the 9/11 aftermath, the global financial crash, the Ukraine war and more.

Paul Royall, himself recently appointed as the permanent editor of the News Channel, said: “Annita, Ben and Geeta’s knowledge, experience, and presenting talent make them valuable additions to the team, bringing trusted BBC News to more than 100 million viewers around the world on the UK’s most-watched news channel.”

Topics in this article : BBC