NEW DELHI: Sian Kevill has been appointed to the newly created position of editorial director of BBC World, the BBC's commercially funded 24-hour international news and information channel.
The former editor of the BBC's Bafta awards-winning Newsnight programme will be responsible for shaping and building the overall editorial direction of BBC World, ensuring that it meets its aim of being the best international television news channel, according to an official statement from BBC World.
Sian is currently the head of new political initiative at the BBC, where she has led the corporation's political programmes review. She assumed her new role on 10 November.
As Newsnight editor from 1998 to 2002, Sian led the programme to Bafta Awards for Best Presenter and Best New Director.
During this time, Newsnight also received awards from the Monte Carlo Television Festival, the Royal Television Society and Race In The Media. Sian herself was presented with a personal award from Women in Film and Television in 2002 for her contribution to news and current affairs.
Sian's wide-ranging editorial experience across the BBC will enable her to enhance and develop the editorial direction of the channel at a time when the demand for international news has never been greater. Her career at the BBC, which began in 1984, has also included time as the deputy editor of on the record, editor of radio foreign programmes and the deputy head of political programmes.
Commenting on the appointment, director of the BBC's global news division Mark Byford is quoted as saying, "BBC World is at the heart of our strategy for the Global News Division, which encompasses all our international facing news operations. Over the coming months, Sian will play a leading role in building on the editorial success of the channel to date. She is an outstanding editorial executive."
BBC World now reaches a third of senior financial leaders in Europe, North America and Asia, according to this year's Global Capital Markets Survey, and was recently ranked first in the categories of authority and relevance in the European Opinion Leaders Survey.
