BBC News’ Search For First Royal Editor In Doubt After Top Choice Turns Down Role
EXCLUSIVE: BBC News’ search for its first royal editor has been thrown into uncertainty after the British broadcaster missed out on its top candidate.
Sources told Deadline that Roya Nikkhah, The Sunday Times royal editor and CBS News contributor, was BBC News’ preferred pick, but she has decided to stay put at the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper.
Nikkhah was highly regarded by the BBC having featured in prestige coverage, including commentating on Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee alongside David Dimbleby. Nikkhah declined to comment.
Two people familiar with the process argued that it had become a “debacle” after the BBC turned away other candidates before Nikkhah elected to stick with The Sunday Times.
Interviews for the role took place in June, with other candidates thought to include ITV News’ royal editor Chris Ship and Rhiannon Mills, Sky News’ royal correspondent.
Nikkhah’s decision has raised questions about BBC News’ appetite to continue hiring for the position, which would theoretically be among the corporation’s highest-profile on-air roles.
Deadline asked BBC News twice if it remained committed to recruiting a royal editor. The corporation declined to comment.
BBC News’ search has become a months-long saga after the corporation initially passed over two internal candidates.
Either Mark Easton, BBC News’ home editor, or royal correspondent Daniela Relph, were expected to be handed the position in April, but but both were told they had not been successful.
There was anger that Easton and Relph were overlooked, with one BBC insider complaining at the time that the “whole thing stinks.”
Several sources said Easton, a vastly experienced BBC journalist, was asked to complete a written test as part of his application process, which one person said sounded like a “GCSE English” exam.
Relph has since been elevated to senior royal correspondent, though sources suggested that this promotion was designed to sit alongside an editor.
BBC News has traditionally appointed royal correspondents, but the corporation decided to hire an editor last year ahead of the retirement of Nicholas Witchell, a 25-year veteran of the beat.