Education
Born in Hertfordshire, England, Turness was educated at Street Francis" College and the Knights Templar School in Baldock, Hertfordshire.
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Deborah Turness
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She was also a former editor of Independent Television News (2004–2013), which made her the United Kingdom"s first female editor of the network news. Turness went on to study at the University of Surrey, where she took a degree in French and English. She then took a postgraduate course in journalism at the University of Bordeaux, France.
She joined ITN in 1988 as a freelance producer in the Paris Bureau straight from university, before becoming ITN"s "North of England" producer in 1991.
In 1993, she joined the ITN Bureau in Washington as a producer. In 1991, she competed in the Paris to Peking Offroad 4x4 Carolina Rally.
In 2000, Turness was Deputy Editor of Five News before being promoted to Editor in 2002. At Five News she famously did away with desks in the studio, thereby introducing the concept of "perching presenters".
During 2002 she worked on Channel 4"s Rhode Island:Southeast as Producer before quitting after six months to rejoin Independent Television News as Deputy Editor.
In 2004 she became the Editor of Independent Television News, being the first woman to become the head of network news. In 2010, she chaired the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. As Editor of ITN, Turness presided over a series of scoops and world exclusives including the arrest of the London bomber and the leaked investigation report on the shooting of Brazilian Charles De Menezes.
In May 2011, she was the only journalist invited to the Buckingham Palace State Banquet for Barack Obama.
She was described as one of London"s 1000 most influential people in 2011. Their daughter Fleur was born in 2009.
In response to the Brian Williams controversy over his misleading statements, Turness was criticized heavily. Vanity Fair reported that several National Broadcasting Company News executives were displeased at her work and felt she was not qualified to do the job.
