Deborah Mary Turness (born 4 March 1967) is an English journalist, CEO of

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

and of

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

(2021). Prior to this she was president of

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

(2013–2017) and then president of NBC News International. Before NBC, Turness was

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British news television channel of ITV (TV network), ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. ITN, Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the netwo ...

(2004–2013), which made her the UK's first female editor of the network news.

Early life

Born in Meriden,

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, England, Turness was educated at St Francis' College and The Knights Templar School in

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies north of London and north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns inc ...

, Hertfordshire. Turness studied at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

, where she took a degree in French and English; she then took a postgraduate course in journalism at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

, France.

Career

Turness joined

in 1988 as a freelance producer in the Paris Bureau straight from university, before becoming ITN's North of England producer in 1991. In 1993, she joined the ITN Bureau in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

as a producer. In 2000, Turness was Deputy Editor of Five News before being promoted to Editor in 2002. At Five News she famously did away with desks in the studio, thereby introducing the concept of 'perching presenters'. During 2002, she worked on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' RI:SE'' as Producer before quitting after six months to rejoin ITV News as Deputy Editor. In 2004, she became the Editor of ITV News, being the first woman to become the head of network news. In 2008, Turness won 'The News and Factual Award' presented by Women in Television and Film. Also in 2008, she was the co-winner of an Amnesty International UK Media Awards for the television news report 'Too Young to Die – Children of the Frontline'. In 2010, she chaired the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. As Editor of ITN, Turness presided over a series of scoops and world exclusives including the arrest of the London bomber and the leaked investigation report on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. In May 2011, she was the only journalist invited to the

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

State Banquet A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in their official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is held ...

for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. She was described as one of London's 1000 most influential people in 2011. In 2013, she was appointed president of

and served in the role until February 2017. Under her leadership the news division had gains in ratings for ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

'' and the ''Nightly News'' shows, but she appointed Jamie Horowitz to run ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', who only lasted ten weeks in the role. In response to the

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

controversy over his misleading statements, Turness was criticised heavily. '' Vanity Fair'' reported that several NBC News executives were displeased at her work and felt she was not qualified to do the job. In February 2017, Noah Oppenheim took over as president of NBC News and Turness was appointed president of a new division called NBC News International that was NBC's side in a partnership with

Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...

, in which each network would contribute reporting to the other. She moved back to the UK. In April 2021, Turness left her role at NBC and returned to

as chief executive officer. In January 2022, Turness was appointed CEO of

. She joined the BBC Board in September 2022 for a two-year term.

Personal life

Turness lived in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

in London with her first husband, television journalist Damien Steward. In 1991, she competed in the Paris to Peking Offroad 4x4 Car Rally. On 26 August 2011, she married John Toker, the former Director of Communications for Security and Intelligence at the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

and an

producer. The couple have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turness, Deborah 1967 births Living people People educated at St. Francis' College, Letchworth People educated at The Knights Templar School, Baldock English television journalists English women journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists Alumni of the University of Surrey NBC executives Women television executives Presidents of NBC News Mass media people from Hertfordshire People from the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull British women television journalists BBC News people BBC executives BBC Board members