The former president of NBC News who left the network five years ago after a tumultuous tenure marred by the Brian Williams scandal has been tapped to head BBC News.
Deborah Turness will helm the British public broadcaster’s team of 6,000 journalists after spending four years as a top executive at ITN and ITV News in the UK. At NBC, she was the first woman to ever run an American network news division.
There, she presided over a division that became embroiled in several scandals from the time she arrived in 2013 as NBC News president.
In 2015, Brian Williams, the anchor of the “NBC Nightly News,” was forced out of his chair and suspended after it was revealed that he made exaggerated claims of his wartime reporting.
Williams was forced to acknowledge that he lied when he claimed he was in a helicopter over Baghdad that was targeted with RPG fire by Iraqi insurgents in 2003.
He also claimed to have come down with a case of dysentery after drinking floodwater in New Orleans’ French Quarter in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — even though that part of the city was not flooded.
After an internal investigation, Williams was suspended for six months without pay. He was allowed to resume his career as host of a nightly talk show on cable news channel MSNBC. Since Williams’ departure from the “Nightly News,” the anchor chair has been filled by Lester Holt.
The decision by Turness at the time to suspend Williams rather than fire him outright reportedly outraged NBC News staffers.
As for Williams, he signed off for the last time at NBC in December, ending his 28-year career at the network.
And it wasn’t just the Williams blowup that Turness presided over: In 2015, she was head of the news division when “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory departed.
Despite Turness’ public statements of support for Gregory, months of speculation over his future, which was sparked by sagging ratings for the Sunday political talk show, led to his exit. He was replaced by current moderator Chuck Todd.
NBC reinstalled former NBC News chairman Andrew Lack as head of the news division — rendering Turness the No. 2 executive at the department — after the Williams and Meet the Press controversies.
But the issues weren’t over: In October 2016, NBC News came under fire after the Washington Post revealed the existence of a tape featuring Donald Trump making lewd comments about women during filming of an episode of “Access Hollywood.”
Even though the tape was in the possession of NBC, the news division waited until the footage could be vetted by lawyers before reporting on it — allowing the Washington Post to score the scoop.
In February 2017, Turness left NBC News and became president of NBC News International, a newly created position at the time.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie praised Turness on Thursday, saying she “brings a wealth of experience, insight, first-class editorial judgement, and a strong track record of delivery.”
“She is a passionate advocate for the power of impartial journalism and a great believer in the BBC and the role we play, in the UK and globally,” he told BBC News.
After Turness left NBC, she was hired back to ITN, as CEO of the UK-based production company whose properties include ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
As head of BBC News, she will earn an annual salary of $540,000, according to the BBC. Turness will replace Fran Unsworth, who announced her departure from the network back in September. Unsworth spent the past 40 years at “the Beeb.”
“In the UK and around the world there has never been a greater need for the BBC’s powerful brand of impartial, trusted journalism,” Turness said.
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