Richard Porter - 2009 Fellow

RICHARD PORTER, Director of News Content, BBC World News

As director of news content at BBC World News, Richard is responsible for the overall editorial leadership and development of the TV News channel and taking joint responsibility for the BBC News website outside the UK (bbc.com/news).

Richard began his journalism career in local newspapers before joining the BBC in 1989. He worked for BBC Nations and Regions in Bristol, Newcastle, Leeds and finally, Manchester, where he was news and current affairs editor.

He joined BBC News 24 (now known as the BBC News Channel) in 1997, six months ahead of its launch, and edited weekend and breakfast programmes. Two years later he was made senior editor of BBC News 24, responsible for 10 hours of news coverage every day.

In 2001, Richard was made editor of BBC ONE’s Breakfast programme and during this time covered major news stories such as the 2001 British General Election, the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 and the Iraq war.

By 2004, Richard had joined BBC World News (then known as BBC World) as editorial director, overseeing its editorial strategy as well as all of its commissioning and scheduling. In 2005 Richard became Head of News, taking responsibility for expanding and modernising the channel’s live news output. In December 2009, he became director of news content.