On 8 March 2007, Richard Sambrook emailed colleagues in BBC Global News on how we can manage the Global News division in a more integrated and effective way, for the benefit of our audiences around the world.
BBC Global News Integration At the Global News briefing in November I spoke about a number of challenges facing the division – huge changes in technology and how people can receive our services; big changes in the needs and expectations of audiences as a result; an unprecedented growth in competition – and the increasing need for flexibility and collaboration in order to respond to these pressures. In addition, we needed to look at how we keep pace with the changes in the rest of the BBC – as we rely on them to deliver some of our services and objectives, and they increasingly need us. Over the past couple of months, I have worked with senior colleagues to review how we can manage the Global News division in a more integrated and effective way. We have decided to re-organise the senior management of the division in order to achieve a number of aims: - A clearer multi-media proposition for audiences everywhere
- Greater co-ordination to drive impact and reach of our services
- Support the key objectives of the Global News Strategy and the move to a fully multi-media international news operation
- Support the Creative Future vision of being more Creative, Digital, Open and Simple
- Enable greater collaboration across the division
- Simplify roles and responsibilities and remove obstacles to collaboration
- Provide the opportunity for some staff to take a wider brief across the full range of our services
- Align us better to the rest of the BBC
- Integrate managerial functions where possible
We are establishing a top level strategic direction group – the Global News Direction Group – which will be responsible for the all the division’s services. There is more about its future role and that of the BBC World Service and BBC World boards below. A number of new roles, replacing some functions currently split between BBC World Service and BBC World, will be created at this senior level to help us achieve this. The key changes will be in the way we run: - Marketing Communications & Audiences – These areas will come together under the new pan-divisional post of Controller, Marketing Communications & Audiences, with the responsibility to ensure our brand has maximum impact in a highly competitive and converging media environment. As audiences change, marketing and communicating about our services is vital – as is spreading the understanding of how audiences behave and what they want. So the post holder will bring together the audience insight, marketing, communications, UK and international media relations teams in one new MC&A department. This post will be advertised shortly.
- Strategy & Business Development – We will dovetail these currently separate functions in order to align our partnerships, syndication and distribution operations with our global and regional strategies. The Business Development teams will report in alongside the Strategy team to a new Controller of Strategy & Business Development for the division. The department will also include New Product Development. This post will be advertised shortly.
- Future Media, Technology & Distribution – In common with the rest of the BBC, our New Media technology team in BBC World Service will be renamed Future Media and placed alongside other technology teams – including, the TV engineering team in BBC World. They will work to Mike Cronk as Controller of Future Media, Technology & Distribution. Sally Thompson will return to her substantive role as Managing Editor in the renamed Future Media, reporting to Mike. Sally will provide leadership for the Future Media team. The post of Head of New Media, BBC World Service, will close as we integrate new media with the rest of the operation.
- Chief Operating Officer – Alison Woodhams will take on some new responsibilities in addition to her BBC World Service finance role. She will lead teams for public affairs, internal communications and the Secretary’s office looking at governance and accountability and the smooth working of the division. As Head of Governance, Hugh Saxby will report to Alison, but with an enhanced role to support the business across all areas including the commercial operations.
- Legal & Rights – We will have an enhanced role of Controller of Legal & Rights across the whole division providing advice across the division and a single point of reference for the corporate legal team. This additional responsibility will be given to one of the two current Heads of Legal in BBC World Service and BBC World.
Turning now to the roles of the respective boards, the Global News Direction Group will agree the strategy for the whole division. The BBC World Service and BBC World boards will be tasked with delivering the strategy and daily operations. Specifically: The BBC World board will continue with greater responsibility for commercial audio visual and interactive services. Anne Barnard will become Managing Director of the company, with me, Sian Kevill as Editorial Director, Simone Pennie as Finance Director and Lesley Granger (HR) on the board. Jo Warren will continue as Company Secretary. There will also be representatives from the shared professional service areas: MC&A, Strategy & Business Development, FMT&D. The BBC World Service board will continue to be led by Nigel Chapman as Director, BBC World Service, and be responsible to me for all BBC World Service, Grant in Aid operations. The board will have responsibility for the efficient spending of Grant in Aid so the BBC World Service management board will be retained. On the BBC World Service board will be: Nigel Chapman, Alison Woodhams (COO), Phil Harding ( English Networks & News), Jerry Timmins (Africa & Middle East), Behrouz Afagh (Asia Pacific), Nikki Clarke (Americas & Europe), Hugh Saxby (Governance), Lindsey North (Legal & Rights), John Renner (W1 project), Mike Cronk, (FMT&D), Lesley Granger (HR) and the shared professional service areas: MC&A, Strategy & Business Development. BBC Monitoring will continue to be led by Chris Westcott as Director of BBC Monitoring, working to me. Stephen King remains as Director of the BBC World Service Trust continuing to report to the charity’s Board of Trustees. The teams of both BBC Monitoring and the BBC World Service Trust will continue as before. If you work in BBC Monitoring or the BBC World Service Trust, then you will not be affected by these changes. If you are a producer or work on Global News output, the probability is that you won't be directly affected by these changes. If you work in professional support, your department may have the opportunity to work across the whole division instead of one part of it. We are not changing editorial structures across BBC World Service and BBC World. However we will be strengthening the planning operations to ensure consistent and effective commissioning and scheduling across all services. We will also have a regular Interactive forum, chaired by me, to ensure we retain a high level focus on this important and fast changing area of activity. The aim and purpose of the BBC’s international news services remains unchanged – to be the world’s best known and most respected voice in international news and to bring the UK to the world and the world to the UK. That remit is more important than ever. We believe these changes will help us achieve our objectives more effectively. In the next few weeks I will give more information on these changes and the consequences. In addition, I will provide details on: - Global News attachments – to help us move around the division and the rest of the BBC.
- Global Audience workshops– around the division and the BBC to help us develop true global audience insight.
- And some other activities we’ll be doing across the division and with the rest of the BBC, to celebrate everything we do.
It will take some time to fully implement these changes. However, we believe they can make our division far more effective and help us provide better services to global audiences. I very much hope you will give them your full support.
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