MUMBAI: The BBC has appointed Vin Ray as the first director of its newly established College of Journalism. Vin Ray, currently the deputy jead of the BBC's Newsgathering team.

The BBC's College of Journalism was launched following recommendations from the Ronald Neil Report to develop a far-reaching training programme for the organisation's journalism.

The programme plans - announced by the BBC's Deputy Director-General Mark Byford in June 2005 - included a doubling of investment in journalism training, together with the development of the virtual College of Journalism, to provide interactive learning modules, workshops and seminars.

Ray said, "It is a fantastic honour and a huge challenge to help BBC journalists navigate their way through a period of such huge change in the industry. I am passionate about making the BBC's journalism as good as it can be, and promoting the highest ethical and editorial standards, and developing the craft skills of all our journalists."

BBC deputy DG Mark Byford said, "Vin has a distinguished track record in broadcast journalism and a demonstrable commitment to high quality training and people development. He will drive forward the establishing of the college and the BBC's commitment to significantly increasing its investment in learning at all levels."