Debbie Ramsay has been appointed as the new editor of 5 News, ITN has announced today.
Ramsay joins 5 News from Channel 4 where she is Commissioning Editor for News and Current Affairs.
Before Channel 4, she worked at the BBC for 16 years. Most recently as an Executive Editor at BBC News in charge of commissioning original journalism, and before that as Head of Youth Journalism and in senior editorial roles at Radio 1 and 1Xtra, leading a large team of journalists to provide news for the BBC’s flagship multi-platform youth outlets.
Ramsay began her career working on local newspapers in the northwest of England, before moving into local radio there and in Birmingham before going on to Capital FM in presenting and breakfast news editor roles.
Debbie Ramsay says: “5 News already punches well above its weight, and this is a fantastic opportunity to work with an exceptional team to punch harder. The programme has incredible reach out of London and with women and I hope to tap into my experience of working with harder-to-reach audiences to boost that further.
“5News has a family feel and I want to emphasise that further with viewers who can play a role in telling us what they need, including as the team often do now, by covering stories that matter to them most and that no-one else is covering.”
Rachel Corp, CEO at ITN says: “I am delighted that Debbie Ramsay will be taking the reins at 5 News. She has an impressive track record as an editor and is known for producing bold and distinctive content. She is also passionate about reaching new and underserved audiences. That expertise not only chimes with the reach and agenda at 5 News but the wider work we are doing across ITN, and she will be a huge asset on my senior leadership team.
“She is joining 5 News at a time of growth, bucking the trend on linear and expanding its reach, and I can’t wait to see what she does with the programme next.”
Daniel Pearl, Commissioning Editor at Channel 5 says: “Debbie is an outstanding and high-profile appointment. She has held senior roles at the BBC News and Channel 4 and will help accelerate the recent growth of 5 News.
“Debbie is well placed to build on the success of Cait’s superb editorship, during which she relaunched the News as an hour with the brilliant Dan Walker and Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije. We’re excited to see how Debbie develops 5 News and how she can bring its unique and distinctive voice to even more viewers.”
Debbie will take up the post later in the autumn, taking over from Cait FitzSimons who has been 5 News editor for 5 years.