Richard Sambrook

British journalist

Richard Sambrook

Born|

Canterbury, Kent

Nationality| British
Occupation(s)| Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University
Known for| Ex-Director of BBC News and BBC World Service

Richard Sambrook is a British journalist, academic and a former BBC executive. He is Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University.[1] For 30 years, until February 2010, he was a BBC journalist and later, a news executive.

## Early life and BBC career

[edit]

Sambrook was educated at Maidstone Technical High School, the University of Reading (BA in English) and Birkbeck College, University of London (MSc in politics). His career began in local newspapers in South Wales.

His 30 years at the BBC were almost entirely in the news. He was successively a programme editor, news editor and Head of Newsgathering when the Corporation won many awards for its international news coverage. He merged radio and television news, and domestic and World Service newsgathering during this time, resulting in the world's largest broadcast news operation. He was acting Director of Sport in 2000, and became Director of News in 2001.

Sambrook defended in June/July 2003 what became the highly controversial Today programme report that the Blair government had in its September Dossier knowingly exaggerated claims relating to Iraq's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction. On 20 July, he confirmed that Dr. David Kelly had been the source of the news item. He later gave evidence to the Hutton Inquiry into Kelly's apparent suicide.

He spent ten years on the management board of the BBC becoming successively Director of BBC Sport, Director of BBC News and finally Director of the World Service and Global News in September 2004. He oversaw major restructuring of the World Service, and its opening of Arabic and Persian television, as well as commercial interactive services. He is a frequent contributor to radio and TV coverage of media issues and writes regularly for The Conversation (website).

## Other and subsequent roles

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From 2010 until 2012, he was Global Vice Chairman and Chief Content Officer of the Edelman public relations agency. From January 2010 until 2017, he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and a Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University. He devised and launched one of the first courses in computational journalism in partnership with the computer science department at Cardiff.[2] He has published several books and research papers on journalism including on international news, the future of TV News and the role of impartiality in digital news. In 2020 the BBC commissioned him to review staff use of social media.

His non-executive roles have largely supported free speech and independent journalism. He is co-Chair of The Bureau for Investigative Journalism and Chair of The Frontline Club – London's press club for independent journalists. He is also Chair of the DMA Media group – a media services company.

From 2012 until 2018 he led the International News Safety Institute for which he chaired an inquiry into the deaths of journalists around the world. From 2006 to 2009, he was Vice President of the European Broadcasting Union and represented public broadcasters on the advisory group to the UN's Internet Governance Forum. He was a trustee of the free-speech NGO Article 19 for six years and was a member of the leadership committee of the Global Media AIDS Initiative, established by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2004. He was on the advisory board of the British Council and was formerly Chairman of the BBC's international charity, the World Service Trust (now BBC Media Action). He was a Trustee of the WWF-UK from 2010-2016. He is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and of the Royal Society of Arts.

## Personal life

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Sambrook is married with two children.

## Publications

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* Sambrook, Richard (2018). Global Teamwork: The Rise of Collaboration in Investigative Journalism. Oxford: Oxford University. ISBN 978-1-907384-35-6.
* Cushion, Stephen; Sambrook, Richard (2016). The Future of 24 Hour News. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4539-1816-6.
* Cottle, Simon; Sambrook, Richard; Mosdell, Nick (2016). Reporting Dangerously: journalist killings, intimidation and security. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-40669-9.
* Sambrook, Richard (2010). Are Foreign Correspondents Redundant? The Changing Face of International News. Oxford: Oxford University. ISBN 978-1-907384-00-4.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "PROFESSOR RICHARD SAMBROOK". Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
2. ^ https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/cardiff-university-introduces-computational-journalism-masters/s2/a556476/

## External links

[edit]

* Are Foreign Correspondents Redundant? (Reuters Institute)
* Appointed Professor of Journalism
* BBC press office biography
* Killing The Messenger report for INSI
* The case against censorship, 2005
* Interview in the Guardian
* Interview by Ray Snoddy, the Independent
* Columbia University Poliak Lecture , 2005
* Speaking at European Journalism Centre Conference
* Sambrook to review BBC's social media use

* v
* t
* e

BBC News

Television

TV Channels|

* BBC News Arabic
* BBC News (International)
* BBC News (UK)
* BBC Parliament
* BBC Persian Television

Languages|

* BBC Arabic
* BBC Hindi
* BBC Bangla
* BBC Hausa
* BBC Nepali
* BBC Brasil
* BBC Mundo
* BBC Persian
* BBC Punjabi
* BBC Russian
* BBC Somali
* BBC Ukrainian
* BBC Urdu

Online services|

* BBC News Online

Programmes|

* BBC Breakfast
* BBC Business Today
* BBC News
* BBC News at One
* BBC News at Six
* BBC News at Ten
* BBC News Now
* BBC Weekend News
* BBC World News America
* The Bottom Line
* The Catch Up
* CBBC Newsround
* Click
* The Context
* Focus on Africa
* HARDtalk
* Newscast
* Newsday (TV programme)
* Newsnight
* Newswatch
* Panorama
* Politics Live
* Question Time
* Reporters
* Sportsday
* Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
* Talking Movies
* The Travel Show
* Verified Live
* The World Today

Defunct|

* The 7 O'Clock News
* 24 Hours
* 60 Seconds
* Asia Business Report
* Africa Business Report
* Afternoon Live
* The Andrew Marr Show
* BBC News at Five
* BBC News at Nine
* BBC News Summary
* BBC Newsroom Live
* BBC Nine O'Clock News
* BBC World News
* Breakfast News
* Breakfast Time
* Breakfast with Frost
* Brexitcast
* Daily/Sunday Politics
* Dateline London
* Despatch Box
* E24
* Fast Track
* The Film Review
* Global
* GMT
* The Hub
* Impact
* In Business Africa
* India Business Report
* Inside Out
* Middle East Business Report
* Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan
* Nationwide
* News After Noon
* Newsroom
* Outside Source
* Politics Show
* Real Story
* Revealed...
* Show Me the Money
* Sixty Minutes
* Sport Today
* STORYFix
* Television Newsreel
* This Week
* This World
* Tonight (1957)
* Tonight (1975)
* UK Today
* Victoria Derbyshire
* We Are England
* Westminster Live
* Working Lunch
* Worklife
* World Business Report (TV)
* World Have Your Say
* World News Today
* Your News

Timelines|

* Timeline of the BBC News Channel
* Timeline of BBC Parliament
* Timeline of BBC Television News

Online services|

* BBC News Online

Radio

Radio stations|

* BBC Radio 4
* BBC Radio 5 Live
* BBC World Service

Languages|

* BBC Arabic
* BBC Hindi
* BBC Bangla
* BBC Hausa
* BBC Nepali
* BBC Brasil
* BBC Mundo
* BBC Persian
* BBC Punjabi
* BBC Russian
* BBC Somali
* BBC Ukrainian
* BBC Urdu

Current|

* Analysis
* Any Questions?
* BBC OS (Radio)
* The Bottom Line
* Broadcasting House
* Business Daily
* The World Today
* File on 4
* From Our Own Correspondent
* The Media Show
* Newsbeat
* Newscast
* Newsday (Radio)
* PM
* Today
* The Westminster Hour
* The World at One
* Wake Up to Money
* The World This Weekend
* The World Tonight

Defunct|

* Brexitcast
* Europe Today
* Have Your Say
* BBC OS (Radio)
* Radio Newsreel
* World Briefing
* The World Today
* World Update

Timelines|

* Timeline of BBC Radio News

Online services|

* BBC News Online

Staff

Director/CEO|

* Tony Hall (1993–2001)
* Richard Sambrook (2001–2004)
* Helen Boaden (2004–2013)
* James Harding (2013–2018)
* Fran Unsworth (2018–2022)
* Deborah Turness (2022–)

On-air staff|

| Lists|

* Current On-air staff
* Former On-air staff

|

Chief Presenters|

* Maryam Moshiri
* Lucy Hockings
* Matthew Amroliwala
* Christian Fraser
* Sumi Somaskanda
* Caitríona Perry
* Clive Myrie
* Ben Brown
* Annita McVeigh
* Geeta Guru-Murthy
* Sally Bundock

Regional news|

* List of BBC regional news programmes

Category

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Czech Republic

Other|

* IdRef

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