News UK elevates Bishton as head of diversity, equity and inclusion

News UK has promoted Shelley Bishton from head of creative diversity to head of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

In the new role she will report into Sarah Gallo, EVP, chief people officer, and develop the DEI strategy across News UK brands including press titles The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times, TV station TalkTV, and radio stations talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK and Times Radio.

A News UK spokesperson said this strategy has three objectives:

• Attracting, developing and retaining young talent from a much broader pool
• Driving gender and ethnic diversity in our wider leadership
• Ensuring diversity and inclusivity in our workforce as well as the journalism and content we produce

As part of this strategy, the goal is to to have a 50/50 gender split across the company’s workforce, and a 20% target of representation of ethnic minorities.

As head of creative diversity from 2020, Bishton’s previous role focused on the third arm of this strategy where she shared up-to-date advice and learnings across News UK titles and radio stations, and extended networks in the wider community.

She joined News UK in 2018 as head of brand partnerships for The Times and The Sunday Times, and then set up news UK’s first network for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority employees, which was “foundational” in informing the company’s first Diversity & Inclusion strategy.