The BBC has announced that the new head of news and current affairs will be the former editor of The Times Newspaper, James Harding.
Mr Harding will be on a salary of £340,000 as he takes over the post which was vacated by Helen Boaden who stepped aside in the wake of the Savile investigations and is now head of BBC Radio.
Mr Harding, 43, who resigned as editor of the paper in December after five years, will head the corporation’s huge news division, despite his lack of TV and radio experience.
His appointment is a radical move by the corporation which has been criticised for being dominated by executives who have little experience of the world outside the BBC.
This will make him one of the best paid and most powerful executives at the BBC and he is the latest in a string of senior appointments by new director general Tony Hall, which has also included former Labour culture secretary James Purnell.
Cambridge graduate Mr Harding resigned from The Times after five years in December and indicated to colleagues on the paper that its owners News Corporation had wanted him to go.
Mr Harding will head the BBC's news division, which employs more than 8,000 staff, and sit on the BBC's executive and management boards.
He said: 'The BBC's newsroom strives to be the best in the world, trusted for its accuracy, respected for its fairness and admired for the courage of its reporting. I am honoured to be a part of it.'
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Harding replaces Helen Boaden (left) and is one of new director general Tony Hall's first appointments
VIDEO See James Harding apologising to the Leveson Inquiry
James Harding apologises on behalf of The Times at Leveson...
BBC Director-General Tony Hall said: 'I am delighted that James will be joining as the new Director of BBC News and Current Affairs. High quality journalism sits right at the heart of the BBC making this is an absolutely critical role.
'James has a very impressive track record as a journalist, editor and manager. I believe he will give BBC News a renewed sense of purpose as it moves away from what has been an undeniably difficult chapter.
'As an organisation, the BBC will also benefit from his external perspective and experience which he will share as a member of the BBC’s Executive team.'
Before working at The Times, Harding held a number of international posts at the Financial Times.
Boaden's time in charge was scrutinised by the Pollard review, which said her division went into 'virtual meltdown' during the scandal.
As director of news, Miss Boaden was responsible for more than 8,000 staff and was in charge of all of the broadcaster’s news and current affairs output, including Question Time, Panorama, the Today Programme and Newsnight.
Mr Harding will head the news division, which employs more than 8,000 staff, and sit on the BBC's executive and management boards
JAMES HARDING, BBC NEWS CHIEF
Harding - who can speak English, French, German, Mandarin and Japanese - worked as a speechwriter in Japan before taking up a job at the Financial Times in 1994.
He opened the newspaper's Shanghai bureau before going on to become the Washington bureau chief, a job he held for three years.
In 2006 he started working at the Times as business editor before becoming overall editor - and at 38 the youngest person ever to do so - of the paper in 2007.
He was born in London and was educated at St. Paul's School before going on to study history at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He is the author of Alpha Dogs, How Political Spin Became a Global Business and is married to Kate with whome he has a son, Samuel.
It is known that she told Mr Entwistle – then running BBC TV – at an awards lunch last year that Newsnight was planning to run a report about claims that Savile abused young girls, which could affect Mr Entwistle’s plans for Christmas shows paying tribute to the presenter.
Sources at Newsnight also suggested that she warned the programme’s then editor, Peter Rippon – who has also since stepped aside – that he needed to be sure of his facts before screening any claims that Savile was a criminal.
Miss Boaden resumed her role as director of BBC News in December after further blunders - caused by a change in the chain of command in news while an inquiry was ongoing - led to Lord McAlpine being wrongly identified as being involved in a sexual abuse scandal.
After Boaden stepped aside, Fran Unsworth, 54, was temporarily made head of news and will hold the position until Harding starts in August.
In Ferbruary, former Labour cabinet minister James Purnell was made chief strategist at the BBC on a salary of £295,000 a year.
His appointment re-ignited concerns over the corporation's links with the Left with MPs claiming it was 'unprecedented' to have someone with such a politically active past become a senior BBC executive.
Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The amount of licence fee-payers' money paid to senior BBC bosses has long been excessive and it is a shame that this opportunity has not been taken reduce spending in this area.
'As families up and down the country have to tighten their belts, the Corporation needs to do the same and cutting down the executive pay bill is an obvious area for savings.'
Mr Harding will be on a salary of £340,000 as he takes over the post which was vacated by Helen Boaden who stepped aside in the wake of the Savile investigations and is now head of BBC Radio.
Mr Harding, 43, who resigned as editor of the paper in December after five years, will head the corporation’s huge news division, despite his lack of TV and radio experience.
His appointment is a radical move by the corporation which has been criticised for being dominated by executives who have little experience of the world outside the BBC.
This will make him one of the best paid and most powerful executives at the BBC and he is the latest in a string of senior appointments by new director general Tony Hall, which has also included former Labour culture secretary James Purnell.
Cambridge graduate Mr Harding resigned from The Times after five years in December and indicated to colleagues on the paper that its owners News Corporation had wanted him to go.
Mr Harding will head the BBC's news division, which employs more than 8,000 staff, and sit on the BBC's executive and management boards.
He said: 'The BBC's newsroom strives to be the best in the world, trusted for its accuracy, respected for its fairness and admired for the courage of its reporting. I am honoured to be a part of it.'
Scroll down for video
Harding replaces Helen Boaden (left) and is one of new director general Tony Hall's first appointments
VIDEO See James Harding apologising to the Leveson Inquiry
James Harding apologises on behalf of The Times at Leveson...
BBC Director-General Tony Hall said: 'I am delighted that James will be joining as the new Director of BBC News and Current Affairs. High quality journalism sits right at the heart of the BBC making this is an absolutely critical role.
'James has a very impressive track record as a journalist, editor and manager. I believe he will give BBC News a renewed sense of purpose as it moves away from what has been an undeniably difficult chapter.
'As an organisation, the BBC will also benefit from his external perspective and experience which he will share as a member of the BBC’s Executive team.'
Before working at The Times, Harding held a number of international posts at the Financial Times.
Boaden's time in charge was scrutinised by the Pollard review, which said her division went into 'virtual meltdown' during the scandal.
As director of news, Miss Boaden was responsible for more than 8,000 staff and was in charge of all of the broadcaster’s news and current affairs output, including Question Time, Panorama, the Today Programme and Newsnight.
Mr Harding will head the news division, which employs more than 8,000 staff, and sit on the BBC's executive and management boards
JAMES HARDING, BBC NEWS CHIEF
Harding - who can speak English, French, German, Mandarin and Japanese - worked as a speechwriter in Japan before taking up a job at the Financial Times in 1994.
He opened the newspaper's Shanghai bureau before going on to become the Washington bureau chief, a job he held for three years.
In 2006 he started working at the Times as business editor before becoming overall editor - and at 38 the youngest person ever to do so - of the paper in 2007.
He was born in London and was educated at St. Paul's School before going on to study history at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He is the author of Alpha Dogs, How Political Spin Became a Global Business and is married to Kate with whome he has a son, Samuel.
It is known that she told Mr Entwistle – then running BBC TV – at an awards lunch last year that Newsnight was planning to run a report about claims that Savile abused young girls, which could affect Mr Entwistle’s plans for Christmas shows paying tribute to the presenter.
Sources at Newsnight also suggested that she warned the programme’s then editor, Peter Rippon – who has also since stepped aside – that he needed to be sure of his facts before screening any claims that Savile was a criminal.
Miss Boaden resumed her role as director of BBC News in December after further blunders - caused by a change in the chain of command in news while an inquiry was ongoing - led to Lord McAlpine being wrongly identified as being involved in a sexual abuse scandal.
After Boaden stepped aside, Fran Unsworth, 54, was temporarily made head of news and will hold the position until Harding starts in August.
In Ferbruary, former Labour cabinet minister James Purnell was made chief strategist at the BBC on a salary of £295,000 a year.
His appointment re-ignited concerns over the corporation's links with the Left with MPs claiming it was 'unprecedented' to have someone with such a politically active past become a senior BBC executive.
Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The amount of licence fee-payers' money paid to senior BBC bosses has long been excessive and it is a shame that this opportunity has not been taken reduce spending in this area.
'As families up and down the country have to tighten their belts, the Corporation needs to do the same and cutting down the executive pay bill is an obvious area for savings.'