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Colebourn named BBC News Regional Director for Europe

March 27, 2026

Richard Colebourn has been appointed the Regional Director for Europe for BBC News and the BBC World Service.

As Regional Director, Colebourn will be BBC News’ most senior representative in Europe and Central Asia, responsible for both editorial and operational matters across the region. He will also oversee BBC News Russian, BBC News Ukrainian and the BBC’s other European language services and will lead the rollout of new language services in the region following the successful launch of BBC News Polska in June 2025.

Fiona Crack, Interim Global Director, BBC News, commented: “I’m thrilled to appoint Richard to lead our teams across Europe as they deliver reliable, trusted news to over 40 million people throughout the region. We have plans to expand our reach across Europe by accelerating the digital transformation in line with audience needs and by using AI responsibly to serve more people in more languages.”

Colebourn added: “It’s a real privilege to take on the role at a time when our exceptional teams are stepping up in the fight against disinformation, producing high quality journalism and finding innovative ways to combat blocking to reach audiences. The region is changing quickly and our ability to adapt to our audiences’ changing needs will be crucial to our success.”

In the last year Colebourn has been Interim Regional Director for Europe. Before that he spent six years as Europe Bureaux Editor. Prior to this, he was Middle East Bureaux Editor in Jerusalem. He has led Emmy, RTS and BAFTA‑winning teams and previously reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanon after starting his BBC career as a News trainee and Newsnight producer.

The BBC has previously announced Juliet Njeri as Regional Director for Africa as part of the corporation’s international operating model where it was established that the BBC would group the world into six distinct areas.

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