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Owenna Griffiths is new executive editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme

BBC Broadcasting House - Mike Kemp
BBC Broadcasting House - Mike Kemp

Owenna Griffiths has been appointed as executive editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, chosen from a shortlist of internal candidates.

Griffiths is currently editor of Radio 4’s PM, and has worked on The World at One and the children’s show, Newsround.

She will replace Sarah Sands, who announced that she was stepping down after the BBC unveiled plans to centralise its news operation and strip programme editors of major decision-making powers.

Griffiths previously worked as a producer on the Today programme. Gavin Allen, the BBC’s head of news output, said Griffiths “knows better than anyone the enormous journalistic strengths of the programme and the constant need for it to adapt and be open to new approaches to maintain its relevance to audiences”.

Mohit Bakaya, controller of Radio 4, said Griffiths has “a rare creative imagination” and an understanding of how “to unlock politics for the Radio 4 audience, as well as find interesting ways to engage listeners and explore the forces that shape the world around us”.

Griffiths will take over in September. Sands has edited the programme for the last three-and-a-half years. In a farewell tribute, the BBC’s director of news, Fran Unsworth, said: “I’d like to thank Sarah Sands for all that she’s done. Under her leadership the programme has expanded its coverage to explore a range of new subjects and seen guest editors from the Duke of Sussex to Greta Thunberg.”

Griffiths, who studied anthropology at Cambridge, said: “Perhaps rather embarrassingly, the Today programme has been a part of my life since I first started listening at university.

“I learned so much about journalism when working there as a producer and it is a huge privilege to be asked to return as editor. I’d like to thank Sarah Sands for handing on a programme in such good shape and look forward to getting stuck in after the summer.”