Liz Corbin, EBU Deputy Media Director/Head of News, has been promoted to Director of News, effective immediately. She will report directly to Noel Curran, EBU Director General.

Corbin joined the EBU in January 2020, having worked for the BBC across television and digital journalism for over 18 years, most recently as Head of News for BBC World News. In just over four years at the EBU, she has presided over a record-breaking Eurovision News Exchange in challenging conditions, not least the global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

In addition, she has created a news environment rooted in technological innovation with the launch of A European Perspective (a pan-European networked newsroom); the EBU Investigative Journalism Network (which has delivered important stories such as the Missing Children of Ukraine); the transformation of the News Events service, which delivers the biggest stories to global media outlets; and a genuinely ground-breaking news report on climate journalism.

Corbin commented: “News is the beating heart of public service media and I am passionate about the role the EBU has played in supporting our Members with their impartial and trusted journalism. Over the past four years, together with the Members and the fantastic staff I work with in Geneva and across the world, I have been proud to grow and transform the services from Eurovision News. As Director of News, I will continue this journey because how we produce the news needs to change radically and constantly. It’s a privilege to work to bring our Members ever closer together, helping them share their journalism, their resources and their expertise. Our Members can rely on Eurovision News to keep them ahead of the curve because all the audiences across Europe and beyond deserve public service newsrooms which are best in class.”

Corbin has stated her priorities for news in 2024 and beyond will focus on launching a new platform for all Eurovision News services, further innovation in the field of AI and digital content sharing, developing the globally recognised content verification services; a planned news report focusing on trusted news in an age of generative AI and covering the forthcoming elections across the EU region, the UK, and the USA.

Noel Curran, Director General, EBU, added: “Liz is an impressive, tireless manager. She joined the EBU in a year of crisis and adapted our newsroom to be fit for purpose in a global pandemic, played a leading role in our crisis management team during huge transformational change, and managed our news response to turbulent world events. She is a well-respected member of our senior leadership team and this is a well-deserved promotion.”