Rachel Jupp takes role as corporation grapples with digital transformation, a cash crisis and its public service role

With looming job cuts and an ongoing pay dispute, there has not been much to smile about for BBC journalists working in “the pit” - their pet name for the newsroom deep in the belly of New Broadcasting House.

On Monday afternoon, however, they were greeted by a grinning figure conducting a tour of the news floor. She was Rachel Jupp, the BBC’s newly appointed director of news and current affairs. Jupp engaged in a series of polite if brief conversations with her new troops.