Goldsmiths alumna Sarah Sands named editor of BBC's flagship Today programme
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Journalist Sarah Sands has won one of the top jobs in broadcasting after being appointed editor of the Today programme.
The Goldsmiths, University of London alumna joins the BBC after editing the Evening Standard for five years.
Sands studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths in the early 1980s. She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2016.
She will be the second woman to edit the flagship Radio 4 show after Dame Jenny Abramsky.
Patrick Loughrey, Warden of Goldsmiths, said: “Sarah has been a trail-blazer throughout her career and this appointment continues that tradition. We’re proud that Goldsmiths is part of her story – and know that her success will be a real inspiration to today’s students and women in journalism."
Sands told the BBC: "I've felt very close to the Today programme for more than 40 years: every listener does. It is an honour to join the team whose journalism makes such a contribution to British life."
Gwyneth Williams, controller of Radio 4, added that Sands "brings long experience of leadership in journalism and will add a fresh, creative approach to the biggest hitting news programme of them all".
Sands was editor of the Evening Standard for five years. Prior to that, she was previously Features Editor and Associate Editor at the Standard, Consultant Editor at The Daily Mail, Editor-in-Chief of the Reader’s Digest and Deputy Editor of The Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph’s first female Editor.
In 2014 Sarah Sands was named one of the UK’s "best connected" and influential women by GQ magazine, and credited with turning the Standard into a "cosmopolitan and crusading" paper.