Roger Mosey

Roger Mosey
Born
Roger Mosey

(1958-01-04) 4 January 1958
Grappenhall, Cheshire, England[1]
EducationWadham College, Oxford
University of Oxford
OccupationsSelwyn College, Cambridge (Master)
British Broadcasting Corporation (Director of News)
Known forAuthor, broadcaster, academia
PredecessorRichard Bowring
SuccessorSuzanne Raine

Roger Mosey (born 4 January 1958)[2] is a British author, broadcaster, and former Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He was previously the Head of BBC Television News and Director of the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games coverage. His other positions have included that of Producer to the BBC's New York bureau, Editor of Today on BBC Radio 4, and BBC editorial director. He is a trustee of the Royal Institute of British Architects.[3] He often contributes articles and columns to international newspapers including The Guardian, The Times, The Spectator, the New Statesman, and the Daily Telegraph.[4]

Education

Mosey grew up in Bradford and was educated at Bradford Grammar School. He then studied at Wadham College, Oxford, where he received a degree in history and modern languages.[5] He appeared on University Challenge in 1978, as a member of the team representing his college.

Career

After university he joined Pennine Radio, Bradford, as a Community Affairs Producer; his BBC career began in 1980 when he joined BBC Radio Lincolnshire as a reporter. His first job in network radio was on The Week in Westminster, and he then moved to Today Programme as a producer and to the BBC's New York bureau[2] before becoming editor of PM in 1987.[6]

He was editor of Radio 4's Today from March 1993 until appointment as Controller of BBC Radio 5 Live at the beginning of 1997. Under his editorship, Today won Sony Gold Awards in 1994 and 1995 and was named "Radio Programme of the Year" by the Broadcasting Press Guild in 1995.BBC Radio 5 Live was named the Sony National Radio Station of the Year 1998.[5] BBC Television News won a number of Royal Television Society awards for journalism, including "Programme of the Year" for Newsnight (2002) and the Ten O'Clock News (2004). The Ten O'Clock News also received BAFTA awards in both 2004 and 2005.

He recruited James Naughtie to join the Today presenting team and introduced Nicky Campbell, Victoria Derbyshire and Richard Littlejohn to Five Live.[6] He brought Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinsky to the BBC to present Breakfast. He is a Fellow of The Radio Academy.[7]

In 2003, when Head of News at the BBC, Mosey was asked to head a landmark workstream looking at the BBC's values. As Head of Sport he cancelled Grandstand[8] after a 48-year run and oversaw the move to Salford Quays in 2010. He was replaced as Head of Sport by Barbara Slater.[9] He was in charge of the BBC's coverage of the 2012 Olympics, which won several awards, including from the Royal Television Society.[5]

In May 2013, Mosey was appointed editorial director of the BBC,[10][11][12] but the appointment was short-lived; he retired from the BBC in August that year.[13] Upon leaving the BBC, Mosey wrote in The Times that the BBC was insufficiently open to divergent viewpoints and had failed to "give enough space to anti-immigration views or to EU-withdrawalists". He proposed that the organisation should share the licence fee with others.[14] His years at the BBC are the subject of his memoir published in 2015, Getting Out Alive,[15] and in 2022 he published 20 Things that would make the News better.[5][16]

In 2013, Mosey was elected to succeed Richard Bowring as Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge.[17] His election was announced on 2 July and he took up the role in October 2013[18] and served as Master for 12 years until September 2025, when he was succeeded by Suzanne Raine.[19][20]

Also in 2013 it was announced that he would be Chair of Bishop Grosseteste University's university council.[12]

Honours

Mosey has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Lincoln (Doctor of Letters, 2011)[3][21] and the University of Bradford (Doctor, 2013).[13][5]

Personal life

In 2026, Mosey wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph revealing that he was adopted, having been born to a single mother in a Mother and Baby Home in Cheshire.[1]

His interests include football (he is an Arsenal fan),[22] films, and reading thrillers and political biographies.[2]

Publications

  • Getting Out Alive – News, Sport & Politics at the BBC, Biteback (2015); ISBN 978-1-84954-831-1
  • 20 Things that would make the News better, Biteback (2022); ISBN 978-1-78590-755-5

References

  1. 1 2 Mosey, Roger (24 June 2026). "I was a forced adoption baby. It gave me a better life". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Roger Mosey, Esq"[link removed], Debrett's
  3. 1 2 "BBC - Roger Mosey, Former Editorial Director - Inside the BBC". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Roger Mosey | the Spectator columnists & writers".
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mr Roger Mosey". Selwyn College. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Roger Mosey, Director London 2012"[link removed], Media Festival, 2011
  7. ↑ The Radio Academy "Fellows" Archived 24 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Roger Mosey "Why Grandstand is going", BBC Sport, 25 April 2006; "Farewell to Grandstand", BBC Sport, 26 January 2007
  9. ↑ "BBC appoints first female director of sport". Daily Telegraph. 26 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "Roger Mosey named BBC editorial director". BBC News. 8 May 2013.
  11. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (8 May 2013). "BBC's post-Savile shake-up continues with appointment of Roger Mosey to new £270k editorial standards job". Press Gazette.
  12. 1 2 "Senior BBC Executive to Chair BGU Council". Bishop Grosseteste University. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013.
  13. 1 2 Griffiths, Kathie (17 July 2013). "Dementia sufferer among University of Bradford honorary degrees". Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Prynne, Miranda (8 November 2013). "BBC is too left wing and should share licence fee, says former executive". Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ Midgley, Neil (13 July 2015). "Getting Out Alive and This New Noise, review: 'oddly bloodless'". Daily Telegraph.
  16. ↑ Herman, David (12 August 2022). "Two cheers for the BBC: Roger Mosey's book on TV news". The Article. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  17. ↑ "New Master of Selwyn College elected", University of Cambridge News, 2 July 2013
  18. ↑ John Plunkett "Roger Mosey quits BBC to head Selwyn College, Cambridge", The Guardian, 2 July 2013
  19. ↑ "Next Master". www.sel.cam.ac.uk. Selwyn College. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "Suzanne installed as Master". Selwyn College. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  21. ↑ "Alumni Community: Honorary Graduates". University of Lincoln. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  22. ↑ Mosey, Roger (13 August 2012). "Roger Mosey: Our magic Mo-ments left me so proud to be British". The Independent.
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