Another TV journalist is leaving the BBC to join ABC News.
A foreign affairs reporter Julia Macfarlane will join ABC News as a London-based multi-platform reporter covering international news. She will start her new gig next month.
Macfarlane comes to ABC News after a five-year stint at the BBC, reporting from Lebanon and the Middle east.
She has covered the refugee migration crisis, Brexit, and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon for the BBC. Macfarlane has also been reporting on the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon.
ABC News president James Goldston announced the new hire this morning. Here’s his memo to staff:
Team –
I’m pleased to announce Julia Macfarlane is joining ABC News as a multi-platform reporter based in London beginning in January.
In the past five years at the BBC, Julia has reported from Lebanon and across the Middle East.
Following the Arab Spring, Julia was compelled to move to Beirut after she graduated from university. A conversational speaker of Levantine Arabic and French, she taught herself to film and embedded in sensitive areas like the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
Since then Julia has covered the refugee migration crisis, Brexit, and fierce fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, and she still shoots her own video. Most recently, her vivid reporting gave a face and voice to the suffering of Syrian refugees in southern Beirut and victims of brutal violence during the Israel-Gaza War.
Julia joins our highly experienced team of reporters in London keeping us at the forefront of the latest developments around the world across all our platforms.
Her deep regional knowledge and modern approach will enhance our already exceptional foreign affairs team.
In this uncertain time we are counting more than ever on our team’s signature blend of straightforward and impactful journalism.
Please join me in welcoming Julia to ABC News.
James