I'm leaving the BBC. Yes it's official, announced today. The BBC is not an easy organisation to leave – there are few places which are as creative, as woven into the fabric of national life, and which can provide as many opportunities and privileges as the BBC. However, 2010 will mark 30 years in BBC journalism for me – and, from March next year, it's time to go.
I have enjoyed fantastic opportunities as a producer and editor, witnessing moments of history, meeting the powerful and the powerless and touching the lives of millions through landmark programmes. I've had the privilege to lead three different divisions - Sport, News and Global News. It has been a joy to work with hugely talented teams and individuals across the BBC and in particular in the last few years in the World Service and Global News. Their commitment to strong impartial, independent News, which I've been proud to support, develop and defend, remains as important today as it has ever been. And with audiences for the BBC' international news as high as they have ever been (238 million each week), it's a good time to step off.
As I remarked before, I have some great memories: being in Berlin as the wall came down and the Cold War era ended, being in China as it started to open up in the 80s, the Soviet Union in the 90s as it fell apart. And moments of challenge: the Iran-Iraq war, Northern Ireland, major disasters. Moments of high adrenalin in live TV galleries and the longer term satisfaction of growing and developing teams and services. There've been some low points too - the deaths of colleagues lowest among them.
Next year I will spend some time as a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University before taking up a new role, outside journalism and broadcasting, in the spring. More of that in due course.
It has been a genuine pleasure knowing you in the virtual space, Richard. I hope you will be able to maintain your online presence in some way as you head into your new roles.
Good luck for whatever the future brings you.
John Connell
Posted by: John Connell | November 30, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Good luck with whatever it is after Reuters Inst. Richard.
All the best ex-beeboids end up doing something academic - fancy doing a joint paper?
Posted by: Andy Tedd | November 30, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Really sad to see you go, but it sounds like an interesting moment for you. Very best of luck.
Posted by: Lloyd Shepherd | November 30, 2009 at 11:33 AM
It was a pleasure working with you at the BBC, especially with your own interest in social media and interactvity, and I wish you well for the future at Reuters Institute and other your new role.
Academia? The water's lovely... come on in!
Posted by: Russell Merryman | November 30, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Good Luck with your next role, and the next... What is it by the way?
Posted by: Victoria Luckie | November 30, 2009 at 01:25 PM
All the very best for the Fellowship and beyond. I hope you'll keep blogging, tweeting and the like. It's always interesting to hear your views. I'll await more details on what's next with interest...
Posted by: Kate_day | November 30, 2009 at 02:30 PM
I wish you luck Richard in your new venturesbut please keep blogging
Posted by: Nigel Barlow | November 30, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Good luck with your new ventures. Let's hope we get a chance to work together again. And, as Russell says, the water is academia is lovely.
Posted by: Hermida | December 01, 2009 at 04:44 AM
sounds like a wonderful position to be in. Kudos to you for making the leap - 30 years is a lot to step out from...
...definitely looking forward to those strong opinions too :)
Posted by: Steve Lawson | December 01, 2009 at 12:23 PM
All the best with your new career. I'll be honest: I don't have a high opinion of BBC managers, to put it mildly. But in many respects you are an exception and, as such, your departure will be a huge loss for this schizophrenic and spineless institution. I look forward to hearing your opinions after your release. Good luck! (If my comments cause you embarrassment and you feel impelled to delete them, please go ahead, I won't mind.)
Posted by: Muhammad al-Arabi | December 02, 2009 at 08:45 PM
Good luck with whatever comes after the Beeb. And as for whatever's next, there's more to journalism than life!
Posted by: Adrian Monck | December 05, 2009 at 10:00 PM
I know whatever you do - it will be amazing. I look forward to hearing your next step.
S
Posted by: Shawna Coronado | December 08, 2009 at 03:42 AM