Guardian Media Group announces appointment of Amber de Botton as chief communications officer

Amber de Botton, Guardian Media Group's new chief communications officer (Photo by The Guardian)

I have long-admired The Guardian’s agenda-setting journalism. The group has a powerful role internationally in the future of news media. I am excited to have the opportunity to promote stories that change lives, laws and legacies.”

Amber de Botton

Guardian Media Group has appointed Amber de Botton as its new chief communications officer. A journalist for nearly two decades, her role as head of U.K. news at ITV News, saw her leading teams across the U.K. covering the death of Queen Elizabeth II, managing exclusives like Partygate and overseeing investigations, including care homes during Covid and social housing which led to changes in the law.

As head of politics for ITV News and deputy head of politics for Sky News, she managed coverage for several U.K. elections, negotiated multiple TV debates — including the first ever televised head-to-head debate in the U.K. During her time at ITV News, the team’s election coverage was nominated for a BAFTA and the politics team won a “Guardians of Democracy” award at the Royal Television Society awards.

Following her career in journalism, she became director of communications at 10 Downing Street where she was in charge of the UK Government’s communications strategy.

She will join the Guardian’s executive committee, reporting to Katharine Viner, editor in chief, and Anna Bateson, chief executive officer.

Viner  said: “As we continue to build our position as one of the world’s leading media organisations, we look forward to welcoming Amber to the Guardian. She brings rich experience and deep understanding of strategic communications and the media to support our mission to become more digital, produce more world-class journalism and engage more readers than ever before.”

Bateson said: “I’m pleased to welcome Amber to the Guardian as we continue to demonstrate the unique scale, influence and integrity of our journalism on the global stage. Amber’s experience in the media and her strategic mind make her an invaluable addition to our team.”

About Guardian News & Media:

Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com, one of the world’s leading English-language news websites. Traffic from outside of the U.K. now represents around two-thirds of the Guardian’s total digital audience. In the U.K., GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week, first published in 1821, and the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.