Beyond Britain: The Global Value of the BBC

Why does the BBC matter internationally?

Join us for an afternoon event as we explore the global value, impact and influence of the BBC, through keynote speeches and an expert panel. Arrive 3pm for a 3.30pm start. Followed by a reception.

In collaboration with Public Media Alliance and Centre for Journalism and Democracy.

Bios

KEYNOTE 1: Rhodri Talfan Davies, Deputy Director-General, BBC

Rhodri Talfan Davies was appointed Deputy Director-General in June 2026. He served as Interim Director-General from April to May 2026. Prior to that, Rhodri joined the BBC Executive Committee in 2021 following his appointment as Director of Nations.

In this role he led the BBC’s work serving nations and local audiences across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as leading the BBC’s Across the UK strategy to decentralise the organisation across the country.

Alongside his role as Director of Nations, Rhodri has led the BBC’s response to Generative AI – overseeing a range of technical and editorial pilots across news, sport and local services, and introducing new editorial policies and standards to manage the adoption of this new wave of technology.

Rhodri was Director of BBC Cymru Wales between 2011 and 2020, where he led the opening of the BBC’s new production centre at Central Square in Cardiff in 2020 and oversaw a transformation in drama production set in Wales.

In June 2025, Rhodri was appointed Chair of BBC Media Action – the BBC’s international development charity which operates in more than 30 countries.

Image credit: BBC Wales / Patrick Olner

MODERATOR: Maryam Moshiri, Chief Presenter, BBC News

Maryam Moshiri is a chief presenter at BBC News. Her show The World Today launched on the BBC News channel in January 2024, reaching more than 120 million viewers globally every week.

Maryam has also presented the One o'clock news and the weekend bulletins on BBC 1. She has worked for the BBC for nearly 23 years - first as a business and economics presenter and later as a main news anchor.

Maryam was born in Tehran and moved to London with her parents before the Iranian revolution in 1978.

Image credit: Robert Timothy / BBC

SPEAKER 1: Cilla Benkö, Director-General, Sveriges Radio

Since 2012, Cilla Benkö is the CEO and Director General for Swedish Radio, the publicly funded Public Service radio in Sweden. She has 40 years’ experience of producing radio and working with digitalization of the media landscape.

At the age of 21, Cilla Benkö started as a sports journalist and continued as an economics reporter at Ekot, the newsdesk at Swedish Radio. She continued as a News Director at Ekot, Head of Swedish Television’s news desk, Aktuellt, and was the Deputy Director General at Swedish Radio between 2009-2012.

She has over 20 years’ experience from international board assignments and is the current Vice-President of the European Broadcasting Union. During her tenure as CEO she has spearheaded the company’s digitalisation and has also been responsible for conducting the most far-reaching cost savings program during the company’s history.

Image credit: Mattias Ahlm / Sveriges Radio

SPEAKER 2: Karen Donders, Director of Public Value, VRT

Karen Donders has been Director of Public Value at VRT since February 2021, and is a member of VRT’s executive committee. Departments reporting to her include Communications, Legal, Research, Public Value (Culture, Science, Education, Media literacy, Language, Music, Diversity), Public Affairs and Public Policy, Privacy and Compliance.

Recently, also VRT Projects has joined Karen’s team. This team organizes projects that both the Content and Information departments of VRT are involved in, with an explicit focus on public value topics (such as disinformation, poverty / loneliness / invisible health issues, cultural heritage, etc.).

Since October 2021, Karen Donders has also been the responsible director at VRT for Talent and Organisation. Prior to her role at VRT, Karen was a professor of Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where she taught courses on media policy, media economics, and journalism.

She also headed the Media & Society research programme within the imec-SMIT research group.

SPEAKER 3: Martin Scott, Professor of Media and Global Development, UEA

Professor Martin Scott is a Professor of Media and Global Development at the University of East Anglia with expertise in media freedom, international journalism and media’s influence on foreign policy.

He has written books on Capturing News, Capturing Democracy (2024), Humanitarian Journalists (2022), Media and Development (2014) and From Entertainment to Citizenship (2014) and he is the co-author of the Index on International Media Freedom Support (IMFS).