Mishal Husain to Depart BBC for Bloomberg Role

The BBC has confirmed that Mishal Husain, a co-presenter of the Radio 4 Today programme, will depart the corporation in the New Year. Ms. Husain has served as a host on the station’s primary current affairs morning broadcast for 11 years and also anchored BBC One’s recent UK general election debates. Having joined the broadcaster in 1998, she has also presented the BBC News at Six and Ten, in addition to its news channels. Her next role will be at Bloomberg, where she is set to host a new interview series and assume the position of editor-at-large for its Weekend Edition. In a statement, the 51-year-old journalist reflected on her tenure at the BBC, stating it had “involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4”. She further expressed: “I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best.” Owenna Griffiths, the editor of the Today programme, characterized Ms. Husain as “not only a formidable journalist and first-rate presenter” but also “an extremely generous and thoughtful colleague”. Ms. Griffiths commented, “It has been my great privilege to work alongside her and, along with the Today team, I’ll miss her enormously but wish her all the very best in her new venture.” Ms. Husain is currently one of five presenters on the Today programme, working alongside Justin Webb, Nick Robinson, Emma Barnett, and Amol Rajan. During the previous financial year, her earnings ranged from £340,000 and £344,999. This compensation covered approximately 140 shifts presenting Today, 20 days reading the news on BBC One, in addition to her involvement in Today’s debates and other assignments. In a statement released by her forthcoming employer, she expressed: “I am delighted to be fronting a new interview show that will reach audiences in different formats as part of the exciting plans for Bloomberg Weekend Edition.” She continued, “Ours is an ever more complex world but the desire for thoughtful conversations crosses all borders. I look forward to working with a new team at Bloomberg – the place which gave me my first job in journalism.” Ms. Husain commenced her journalism career at Bloomberg Television in the 1990s, prior to her move to the BBC. Throughout her tenure at the corporation, she also filed reports from various nations, including the US and Pakistan. Notable assignments included interviewing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, following their engagement in 2017, and participating in the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and the King’s coronation. Furthermore, she produced documentaries focusing on the lives of the late Queen, Mahatma Gandhi, and Malala Yousafzai, alongside a film about the Arab Spring in 2011. Earlier this year, the British presenter’s book, *Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence*, achieved Sunday Times bestseller status. The Guardian commented that she wove “a tender tapestry with the stories of her four grandparents in the new state of Pakistan”. Alex Farber, media correspondent for The Times newspaper, who last week reported Ms. Husain’s impending departure, informed Radio 4’s Media Show that her leaving had caused dismay among some BBC staff members. He stated, “I think she is very highly regarded within the corporation,” adding, “I’ve had lots of messages this afternoon from people within the BBC who consider her departure to be quite a loss.” Farber further remarked, “We don’t know the kinds of offers that were made, and what was put on the table for her. Ultimately she obviously decided that whatever was being offered wasn’t quite right for her.” He suggested that her successor on Today ought to be another woman, proposing BBC Europe editor Katya Adler, Radio 5 Live’s Rachel Burden, and ITV’s deputy political editor Anushka Asthana as potential candidates. Ms. Husain’s announcement follows five months after Martha Kearney’s exit from the Today programme, where she was succeeded by Emma Barnett, who previously worked on Woman’s Hour.