// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Rachel Jupp is a bold choice for BBC News chief, says Katie Razzall
Rachel Jupp is a bold choice for the BBC's director of news. She is a well-regarded high flier who has impressed in her roles at Panorama, Newsnight and Channel 4 News.
She is currently the BBC's director of news documentaries and long form Journalism. But she hasn't been in that role for long and hasn't spent years leading huge teams of people (BBC News' global newsroom has around 4,500 staff).
A lack of that kind of experience might have been problematic in the past. But the BBC's new director general comes from Google. Tech companies regularly appoint people who may not have the direct experience for a role but have the strategic vision and drive to make a difference. He is talking about distinctive journalism and reinvention.
Jupp's appointment signals a direction of travel both on the change that the new boss thinks is required and also on the use of technology.
Before Jupp took up her role in documentaries, she had moved to the US and was a senior member of the BBC's AI team, developing and leading the BBC's approach to artificial intelligence.
It feels significant that the former Google boss has chosen someone with that experience to run his news teams, raising questions around how AI could open up the next frontier of a modern newsroom.
But the new director of news has a lot on her plate.
She leads a news operation that is still reeling from a series of crises that eventually brought down her predecessor, Deborah Turness, as well as director general Tim Davie.
She'll have to oversee the £51m in savings that news must make (one tenth of the £500m the entire BBC must find).
Job cuts are already in train, journalists are having to reapply for their roles - and there is much more pain to come.