New editors for Newsnight and Radio 4 announced

The BBC has today announced new editors for BBC 2’s Newsnight and Radio 4’s Today programme.

Ian Katz, Deputy Editor of The Guardian, has been appointed as the new Editor of Newsnight. Ian will take on the role from September. He replaces Karen O’Connor, who took on the role of Acting Editor in November 2012.

The new editor of Today will be Jamie Angus, formerly editor of The World at One, and currently acting Deputy Editor of Newsnight. Jamie will start his role at Today in September. Until then, he will be Acting Editor of Newsnight.

Fran Unsworth, Acting Director of News says: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Ian to the BBC and to announce Jamie as the new Editor of the Today programme. Their journalistic pedigree speaks for itself. They will bring to two of Britain’s most influential news and current affairs programmes all the judgement, news sense and innovation we need.”

Jamie Angus has held a number of senior editorial roles in television and radio, working in English and in BBC language services.

He says: “It’s an enormous privilege to be asked to do this job – I worked on the programme for my first eight years in the BBC, and have been listening to it for as long as I can remember being a radio listener. At the heart of Radio 4 and of BBC News, Today is central to what the BBC offers its audiences. I am delighted to be taking on this job at a time when the programme is in such strong form, with record audiences and recent awards success, and I’m looking forward to working with the team and our presenters.”

Newsnight is one of the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programmes. Recently, the programme’s journalism has included Allegra Stratton’s scoop about a government split on plans for childcare; Tim Whewell’s rare access to the closed world of Russian orphanages; and the first poll of its kind on the real prospects of migration to the UK from Romania and Bulgaria.

Newsnight reporter Sue Lloyd-Roberts also won International Journalist of the Year at the One World Media awards, for her reports on female genital mutilation in Egypt and ethnic violence in Burma.

Today’ is BBC Radio 4’s most popular programme, with around 7 million listeners a week. It is presented by John Humphrys, Jim Naughtie, Sarah Montague, Evan Davis and Justin Webb. The programme was recently a double winner at the Sony Radio Academy awards for best breakfast programme and best radio journalism for presenter John Humphrys.

Ian Katz joined the Guardian in 1990. He worked as a reporter and foreign correspondent before launching the Guardian’s first website, Guardian Unlimited. He edited the G2 section for eight years before taking over responsibility for the Guardian’s Saturday edition and later the weekday Guardian.

He is currently deputy editor of the Guardian responsible for news. In that post he has played a central role in a number of major Guardian stories including Wikileaks and the phone-hacking scandal. Among other innovations, he was behind the Guardian’s highly successful series of nature wallcharts.

Commenting on his appointment, Ian says: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining a programme I’ve watched and loved all my adult life. It’s had serious and well publicised problems over the last year but I’m looking forward to working with the hugely talented team to make it once again the world’s most intelligent, sophisticated and exciting news programme.

“It’s been a huge privilege to work at the Guardian through some of the biggest stories in its modern history, and to work with Alan Rusbridger, who has taught me most of what I know about journalism.”