Deborah Turness to deliver the 2026 Sir David Nicholas Lecture
Event Description
This year's Sir David Nicholas Memorial Lecture about Broadcast and TV News is being given by Deborah Turness, the former CEO of BBC News.
Deborah has had an extraordinary career so far. She's been CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, CEO of ITN, President of NBC News, and Editor of ITV News. She was the first female and youngest ever Editor of ITV News – and the first woman and first non-American in US history to be President of a network news division.
While at the BBC, she was in charge of the 6,000-strong BBC News division, overseeing a series of major changes, including implementing digital and AI strategies, investing in social media production, and launching BBC Verify.
She was a member of the Director General's Executive Leadership Group and the BBC Board, and was part of the team shaping the BBC vision for Charter Renewal.
Deborah resigned from the BBC last November following the President Trump video editing controversy, saying: "I stepped down… because the buck stops with me".
In agreeing to give the lecture, she said:
"Sir David wasn't just a great journalist. He was a bold innovator, a restless transformer and an inspirational leader. Generations of ITN journalists have since aspired to meet the challenge of his legacy. I am one of them. That's why it is such an honour to be asked to deliver the 2026 Sir David Nicholas Memorial Lecture, and I very much look forward to it."
The Sir David Nicholas Memorial Lecture
The idea behind the annual lecture is to remember Sir David by asking someone who is a senior leader in the TV news industry to give a lecture about Broadcast and TV news – its history, current trends, and/or future.
David, who died in 2022, was the former Editor of ITN, and was at the company from 1960 to 1991. He was a hugely important figure in the history of TV news, and was one of the industry's key pioneers and innovators.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday 12th May 2026
Venue: 44 Hallam St, London, W1W 6JJ. (Nearest tube stations: Oxford Circus and Great Portland St)
Doors will open at 6pm for check-in and a complimentary welcome drink, and the lecture will start in the first-floor Council Chamber at 6.30pm promptly.
It will last approximately 30-40 minutes, followed by a Q&A session. There will then be a drinks reception (with a pay bar) from 7.30 to 8.30pm in the ground floor Regent Suite reception room.
Tickets:
£10 for ITN 1955 Club and Media Society members and for BJTC course lecturers
£25 for general tickets.
An allocated number of free tickets for journalism students (available via the BJTC).
Organisers
This year's Sir David Nicholas Memorial Lecture is being organised by the ITN 1955 Club in partnership with the Media Society and the Broadcasting Journalism Training Council (BJTC).
The ITN 1955 Club is for people who have worked at ITN. It is independent of ITN, and relies entirely on member subscriptions and donations. The Club is named after the year that ITN was founded, and first went on air.
The Media Society is a British charity that organises events that discuss and debate important and topical media issues.
The Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) brings together multimedia broadcast employers and accredited training courses to ensure students are taught professional, industry standard journalism skills.
The Sir David Nicholas Lecture Committee selects the annual speaker. It's currently made up of Nigel Dacre (Chair and founder), Alex Kingston (Chair, ITN 1955 Club), Patrick O'Ryan-Roeder (Deputy Chair, ITN 1955 Club), Jon Godel (CEO, BJTC), Duncan Jones, Sandra Kiely, James Nicholas and Richard Tait.
Event Schedule
6:00pm: Welcome drink
6:30pm: Lecture begins (1 hour, including Q&A)
Networking drinks before and after the discussion event with cash bar.