Liliane Landor | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | British |
Education | France and Switzerland |
Known for | creating BBC 100 Women |
Liliane Landor (born 1956) is a Lebanese-born British journalist and broadcasting executive who worked as the Director of the BBC World Service from 2021 until 2024. [1] She worked for the BBC from 1989 to mid-2016, becoming controller for languages at the Service, where she was responsible for radio and television broadcasting in 27 languages. [2] [3] She launched the BBC's 100 Women project in 2014. [4] In November 2016, she was included as one of the inspirational and influential women of 2016 in the BBC's 100 Women — the theme was "defiance". [5]
The daughter of a Lebanese father and a Cuban mother, [6] Landor was born and raised in Lebanon. [7] She was educated in France and Switzerland [2] and she can speak five languages. [8] On joining the BBC in 1989, she first worked for the French service, presenting a news programme. She went on to become one of the first non-British broadcasters in the news department of the BBC World Service, where she presented Europe Today and, two years later, the flagship Newshour . She was one of the main presenters of The World Today , before becoming the programme's editor. [2]
In 2002, Landor was appointed senior editor of news and current affairs programmes, a department she headed from 2006, gaining responsibility for all World Service English-language news programmes. In 2007 she was one of the judges in the BBC's NewsMaker journalism competition opened to anyone who was between the age of 20 and 30. The entries had to be in English and they were judged by Rania Kurdi, Lyse Doucet and Landor. The winners from Jordan were the Lina Ejeilat and Iraqi engineer Sarah Muthanna. [9]
In late 2009, she moved to the Middle East department of the World Service, with editorial and management responsibilities for all Arabic television and radio broadcasts. In 2013, she became the controller responsible for the BBC World Service's radio and television broadcasting in 27 languages, until her departure in mid-2016. It was Landor who was instrumental in launching the BBC's 100 Women in 2014, in which was included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban. [2] [10]
Landor appreciates the importance of combining radio and television broadcasting with online services including social media. In a 2014 interview with Hanin Ghaddar of NOW News , she stressed the importance of maintaining high-quality news while exploring new possibilities for more effective delivery. The BBC's "impartiality, objectivity, and universal values will not change," she explained. "There are so many ways to get through to audiences, but ultimately you have certain editorial principles that you cannot waive." [10]
On her departure in 2016, the director of BBC News, James Harding, described her as "a defining figure in shaping the World Service" who through the language services had "transformed the BBC’s ability to make sense of the world". [10] The following year the BBC announced the "Liliane Landor Award for Best in Journalism" for a documentary non-fiction work. The first award was won by Karim Sayad for a film about the lives of two Algerian men. [11]
In 2018 Landor became Head of Foreign News for Channel 4, succeeding Nevine Mabro. [8] From 2021 until 2024, Landor was the Senior Controller of BBC News International Services (under which she also assumed the role of Director for international broadcaster BBC World Service). [1]
In September 2022 Landor started a restructuring programme to cut about 380 jobs at the BBC World Service and close some radio operations, prompting warnings of damage to the BBC's global reputation. Some critics argued that the cuts would mean poorer value for British and global audiences.[ citation needed ]
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays. In 2024, the World Service reached an average of 450 million people a week. In November 2016, the BBC announced that it would start broadcasting in additional languages including Amharic and Igbo, in its biggest expansion since the 1940s.
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and documentaries. BBC Two has a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.
Janet Vera Street-Porter is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the Daily Mail and was later appointed fashion editor of the Evening Standard in 1971. In 1973, she co-presented a mid-morning radio show with Paul Callan on LBC.
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
What The Papers Say is a British radio and television series. It consists of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's newspapers, read in a variety of voices and accents by actors. The quotes are linked by a script read by a studio presenter, usually a prominent journalist. The show did not have a regular host, and was intended as a wry look at how British broadsheets and tabloids covered the week's news stories. The programme was most recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
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 broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service has over 5,500 journalists working across its output including in 50 foreign news bureaus where more than 250 foreign correspondents are stationed. Deborah Turness has been the CEO of news and current affairs since September 2022.
Kenneth Adam was an English journalist and broadcasting executive, who from 1957 until 1961 served as the Controller of the BBC Television Service.
Phil Harding is a journalist, broadcaster and media consultant. Previously he was a producer, editor and senior executive at the BBC.
Jacqueline Anne Oatley is an English broadcaster who works as a football commentator for Sky Sports and other broadcasters, calling games at the FIFA World Cup, Premier League, FA Women's Super League, UEFA Champions League, NWSL and UEFA international matches. She was also a sports presenter on Quest TV covering the English Football League, a podcast host for The Athletic, and is current anchor for ITV Sport's live darts coverage. In 2007, she became the first female commentator on the flagship BBC One football highlights programme Match of the Day, which she also presented once in March 2015.
Rowland Leonard Miall was a British broadcaster and administrator at the BBC for 35 years, from 1939 to 1974. In retirement, he became a research historian, studying the history of broadcasting.
Jacqueline Leigh "Jay" Hunt is an Australian-born British television executive working as Creative Director, Worldwide Video, Europe for Apple Inc. From early 2011 until June 2017, Hunt was the Chief Creative Officer of Channel 4.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,200 are in public-sector broadcasting.
BBC Persian Television is the BBC's Persian language news channel that was launched on 14 January 2009. The service is broadcast by satellite and is also available online. It is aimed at the 120 million Persian-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Lis Howell is director of broadcasting at City, University of London, running the broadcasting and television journalism programmes, and also deputy head of the journalism department. She is a journalist who went on to become a senior executive in British television and also writes murder-mystery novels.
Gwyneth Williams is a former controller of BBC Radio 4. She grew up in South Africa and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford.
Charlotte Alexandra Moore is a British television executive who is the BBC's Chief Content Officer. She was appointed to this role in September 2020, having been Director of Content since early 2016 when she assumed responsibility for all of the BBC's television channels after the controller posts were abolished. Moore was Controller of BBC One from 2013 to 2016, in the position of which she was reported to be in charge of a budget of more than £1 billion.
100 Women is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's women season", lasting three weeks including broadcast, online reports, debates and journalism on the topic of women. Women around the world are encouraged to participate via Twitter and comment on the list, as well as on the interviews and debates that follow release of the list.
Najiba Laima Kasraee is CEO of Laima International Training, a journalist, media consultant, founder and former Director of Academy for RFE/RL. She is known for her work with the BBC World Service as a journalist and as founder of the first languages training for the BBC Academy. Her work focussed on building training resources for journalists in the language they report in. She has founded BBC Academy International Languages websites and news style guides in more than 42 vernacular languages.
A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 4, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.