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BBC News Chief Leaving Role To Set Up Media Company With "Distinct Point of View"

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Head of BBC News James Harding is leaving his position after four years to set up a new media company that has "a distinct approach to the news and a clear point of view." 

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In announcing his departure, Harding said there was some journalism that "the BBC, for all its brilliance, can’t, and probably shouldn’t, do. And that’s what I want to explore."

Previously editor of Rupert Murdoch's London-based The Times, Harding received accusations of bias from all sides of the political spectrum during his time at the BBC. 

"I know I will enjoy the chance to do some more journalism of my own and, at such a critical time, I’m seriously excited about the prospect of building a new venture in news. I look forward to being able to say more about it when we get started in the New Year,” he said in a statement.

Harding is credited with introducing the slow news initiative at the BBC earlier this year.  "We need slow news, news with more depth – data, investigations, analysis, expertise – to help us explain the world we’re living in,” he said at the time.

Harding is a long-time friend of former U.K. chancellor George Osborne, the current editor of news organization the London Evening Standard.