28-01-2025
Naja Nielsen to leave BBC News
Naja Nielsen, Digital Director of BBC News, is leaving the BBC to take up a position as Media Director of Swedish public broadcaster SVT.
Naja joined the BBC in 2019. In her role as Digital Director, she has led BBC News' digital journalism through the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza war and consequential UK and US Elections, putting digital and streaming at the heart of the BBC Newsroom.
Naja Nielsen says: "I can't express how grateful I am for the trust BBC has put in me, for everything I have learned, and for the generosity and kindness everyone at the BBC has shown me. It has been a privilege to work for a media company where the top leadership walk the talk and have the courage to modernise and protect our core mission at the same time, and it has been fantastic to lead such a wonderful team.
"The BBC is a uniquely purpose-driven, courageous, creative and forward-looking organisation that I will continue to consume, support, admire and be inspired by as I lead the next steps forward at SVT, a role I am honoured to be entrusted with."
BBC News CEO Deborah Turness says: "In Naja's five years with us, her impact on BBC News is hard to overstate. She has led the transformation of our digital offer, passionately pioneered live pages and streaming, and put data at the heart of our decision making. Naja has led our social teams to make BBC News a force on social platforms where we are targeting young audiences - first building scale on Instagram where BBC News is the biggest global news brand, and then on TikTok where we've grown followers 65% in the last year and are the second largest UK news account.
"Naja's rich experience and expertise were formed both by her time spent in the US, where she immersed herself in Silicon Valley and the big tech companies' ways of working, and in the innovative Scandinavian news market. That unique combination positioned Naja to be a courageous leader who has championed our digital investments and accelerated the pace of change."
During her time at the BBC Naja has launched live streams; the improved BBC News app; digital election formats focused on voters; newsletters; local news rails and push alerts; vertical video; BBC News on Tik Tok; BBC InDepth and many more. Throughout she has put an unwavering focus on the needs of BBC news audiences in the digital age.
Naja was previously Chief Journalism Officer at Orb Media, a digital investigative start-up in Washington DC. Before this Naja had a long career at Danish public broadcaster DR, working as a reporter, presenter, the editor of flagship programmes and cross platform elections and royal affairs content, eventually becoming Head of News then Deputy Director to the News Director.
In 2014 Naja was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, studying what legacy media should learn from the tech industry.
In her new role, Naja will be responsible for SVT's digital services and publishing strategies, that is, how, when, and where content is published. The position also includes analysis and data, as well as overall responsibility for AI at SVT.
Naja will leave the BBC in the coming months. Details of her replacement will be announced in due course.
CM7
