News Anchor Leaves for Rival Network Months After Landing Lead Anchor Role

BBC News journalist Yalda Hakim is stepping away from the UK broadcaster. Less than four months after being promoted to chief anchor for BBC News, Hakim is leaving the broadcaster and joining Comcast-owned Sky News as its lead world news presenter. The broadcaster confirmed Thursday that Hakim will present a new primetime program as part of a multiplatform offering focused on international news. Her start date has not been announced.

“I am honored and excited to be joining Sky News as lead world news presenter,” Hakim shared in a statement. “I have long admired Sky for its smart, fearless and world-class reporting. At a time when global media must work harder than ever to earn the confidence of our viewers, I look forward to giving my all as part of one of the most talented and accomplished news teams anywhere.”

David Rhodes, executive chair of Sky News Group, said: “We’re so excited to have Yalda join Sky as our lead world news presenter. Sky News has always featured an award-winning international news report, with Alex Crawford, Stuart Ramsay, Dominic Waghorn, and so many colleagues on the front lines of our coverage every day. Yalda bolsters this multiplatform presentation-her professional accomplishments and personal journey make her an ideal addition to our newsroom.”

An award-winning international correspondent and documentary filmmaker, Hakim “has spent nearly two decades reporting from the frontlines of the world’s most consequential and dangerous stories,” per Sky News. She is the host of the flagship program The Daily Global with Yalda Hakim on BBC News, and earlier this year, she was named Chief Presenter of the newly merged BBC News Channel, a sought-after £230,000 ($300,000) role, per Deadline.

Amid her move to Sky News, Deadline reports that Maryam Moshiri will take over Hakim’s duties on The Daily Global. The outlet also reports that Hakim’s departure from the broadcaster “opens up an opportunity for one of five female BBC News channel presenters currently in limbo nearly four months after the merger.” The outlet reported last month that BBC was under increasing pressure to find a solution for five veteran female presenters who have been unable to work for months due to a merger of the company’s UK and international news channels. It was also reported that there is anger over the treatment of the women and the BBC was being questioned about how much money it wastes while its senior anchors are on leave.