Liliane Landor is a Lebanese-born British journalist and broadcasting executive who works for Channel 4 as Head of Foreign News. She worked for the BBC from 1989 to mid-2016, becoming controller for languagesat the BBCWorld Service, where she was responsible for radio and television broadcasting in 27 languages. She launched the BBC's 100 Women project in 2014. In November 2016, she was included as one of the inspirational and influential women of 2016 in the BBC's 100 Women — the theme was "defiance".
Biography
The daughter of a Lebanese father and a Cuban mother, Landor was born and raised in Lebanon. She was educated in France and Switzerland and she can speak five languages. On joining the BBC in 1989, she first worked for the French service, presenting a news programme. She went on to become one of the first non-British broadcasters in the news department of the BBC World Service, where she presented Europe Today and, two years later, the flagship Newshour. She was one of the main presenters of The World Today, before becoming the programme's editor. In 2002, Landor was appointed senior editor of news and current affairs programmes, a department she headed from 2006, gaining responsibility for all World Service English-language news programmes. In late 2009, she moved to the Middle East department of the World Service, with editorial and management responsibilities for all Arabic television and radio broadcasts. In 2013, she became the controller responsible for the BBC World Service's radio and television broadcasting in 27 languages, until her retirement in mid-2016. It was Landor who was instrumental in launching the BBC's 100 Women in 2014, in which was included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban. Landor fully appreciates the importance of combining radio and television broadcasting with online service including social media. In a 2014 interview with Hanin Ghaddar of NOW News, she stressed the importance of maintaining high-quality news while exploring new possibilities for more effective delivery. The BBC's "impartiality, objectivity, and universal values will not change," she explained. "There are so many ways to get through to audiences, but ultimately you have certain editorial principles that you cannot waive." On her departure in 2016, the director of BBC News, James Harding, described her as "a defining figure in shaping the World Service" who through the language services had "transformed the BBC’s ability to make sense of the world". The following year the BBC announced the "Liliane Landor Award for Best in Journalism" for a documentary non-fiction work. The first award was won by Karim Sayad for a film about the lives of two Algerian men. In 2018 Landor became Head of Foreign News for Channel 4, succeeding Nevine Mabro.
