The BBC has announced that Fran Unsworth is to be the new Head of News and Current Affairs.

Fran Unsworth is currently Director, BBC World Service Group and deputy director of News and Current Affairs. In her new post she will be responsible for all the BBC’s domestic and international news services.

Fran joined the BBC in local radio before moving to London and the Newsbeat programme on the pop music station Radio 1. She spent some time as a network radio producer in Washington DC, and later joined Radio 4’s The World At One and PM. Fran was appointed the BBC’s Home News Editor and then, in 2001, Head of Political Programmes. In 2005 she became Head of Newsgathering, running one of the world’s largest newsgathering operations with bureaux across the world.

For periods between November 2012 and June 2013, Fran was the BBC’s Acting Director of News and Current Affairs. Fran Unsworth was made Director of the BBC World Service Group in December 2014. In this role she led the BBC’s global news services – BBC World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com/news – as well as BBC Monitoring. Prior to her appointment to the World Service Group, she was Deputy Director of BBC News and Current Affairs.

Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, says “The Director of News and Current Affairs is one of the most demanding of any in broadcasting.

“News is at the very heart of the BBC. I am delighted Fran Unsworth is taking up the role. She brings a combination of excellent news judgement, authority, management knowhow, and the trust of her colleagues both in news and across the BBC.”

Fran Unsworth says: “I am delighted to lead BBC News and Current Affairs. We are living through a period of significant change at home and abroad. In a complex world, the BBC’s journalism matters more than ever. I am proud to lead a team of such dedicated and talented people.”

Fran takes up her post early in the New Year.