October 10, 2013

Lebedev-owned TV station London Live reveals plan to recruit 50 editorial staff

A new local TV station for London based in the newsroom of The Independent and Evening Standard has revealed plans to recruit 50 editorial staff.

London Live will also draw on an integrated newsroom of around 300 journalists who currently work on the Lebedev-owned print titles and their websites.

This summer The Independent made 27 journalists redundant, including many senior writers, and revealed plans to recruit 20 journalists for web-based roles.

London Live’s news and current affairs operation is being headed up by former Sky executive Vikki Cook.

London Live is set to launch in March next year on Freeview Channel 8.

The new TV station said in a statement: "London Live’s commitment to emerging talent, recruitment will target fresh faces with TV experience, who bring their own style to the table, alongside established industry expertise. The channel is dedicated to creating the next generation of broadcasters and news presenters, as well as delivering unique opportunities for some of the industry’s smartest technical experts.

"Editorial roles will include on-screen presenters, video journalists, programme producers, multi-media editors and producers, broadcast assistants and a planning team. Vacancies within the technical team will include gallery staff and technicians, graphic designers, VT editors and library managers. Editorial staff will report to head of news and current affairs, Vikki Cook, while the technical employees will report to technology director, Bryn Balcombe.

"The new broadcast editorial team at London Live will also work closely with the existing editorial teams on London Evening Standard and Independent, drawing on their journalistic expertise and together driving the launch forward. London Live will deliver content with a strong emphasis on agenda-setting, headline-generating journalism, alongside human interest and first-class entertainment. The London-focused channel will be a strong force across the capital, dedicated to delivering sharable, innovative content and engaging with London’s audience across all of ESI media’s established platforms.

"The recruitment drive follows several recent key appointments, including former BBC Worldwide Head of Programming for Global iPlayer Derren Lawford as Commissioning Executive in September and former Sony Pictures Television International Director Lucy Myers as Programming Manager in July."