Annita McVeigh, Ben Brown and Geeta Guru-Murthy became the latest U.K.-based chief presenters for the network, which broadcasts in the U.K. and worldwide.
They are joining an existing roster that includes Matthew Amroliwala, Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings and Maryam Moshiri in the U.K.; Sumi Somaskanda and Caitríona Perry in Washington D.C.; and Steve Lai in Singapore.
McVeigh began her career in local newspapers in Northern Ireland before working for BBC NI and then as Ireland Correspondent. She has been a special correspondent for BBC News 24 and BBC News at Ten, working in America, the Middle East and across Europe. As a presenter, McVeigh has covered stories including the major U.K. political events of the last decade, the war in Ukraine, COP26 and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Brown joined the BBC in 1988 and reported on pivotal events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Soviet communism (as the BBC’s Moscow correspondent), the Rwanda genocide, 9/11 and the Asian Tsunami. The award-winning war correspondent has covered conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Israel-Gaza and the 1991 Gulf War. Brown was also embedded with British troops when they invaded Iraq in 2003. He then became a presenter on BBC News and can currently be seen on BBC’s local network, BBC One, presenting News at One, Six and Ten. He has anchored live and breaking coverage from locations around the world, including from Zimbabwe for the fall of Robert Mugabe and from Ukraine on Russia’s invasion.
Guru-Murthy has covered some of the biggest stories globally and in the U.K. as a presenter and correspondent, from the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair in Washington to the Good Friday agreement in Belfast. She has anchored during the 9/11 aftermath, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the global financial crash, the Donald Trump presidency, Covid, the Ukraine war and has also extensively tracked Brexit and U.K. politics. Guru-Murthy has also presented on BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 4’s Today program and BBC One news bulletins.
“Annita, Ben, and Geeta’s knowledge, experience, and presenting talent make them valuable additions to the team, bringing trusted BBC News to more than 100m viewers around the world on the UK’s most-watched news channel,” Paul Royall, editor of the channel, said in a statement.
Singapore-based Lai was the last news presenter to be named chief presenter. He joined the BBC in December 2023 from the Singaporean English news channel CNA, where he was co-host of the flagship morning news program and an anchor of special event programs. Before that, he was a presenter on the flagship evening news program and anchored election coverage in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Myanmar.