One of B.C.’s most familiar faces in TV news is stepping down.

Global News announced today (August 27) in a news release that its B.C. regional director Jill Krop is resigning from her position, which she has held since she was promoted in 2015 to manage newsrooms at Global BC, Global Okanagan, and 980 CKNW. Her last day will be on September 30. Her reasons for leaving were not stated. The Georgia Straight has contacted Global News for further details. 

Krop has had a career in journalism spanning almost 35 years, with 23 of those years at Global News.

While still a BCIT student, she began at BCTV (now Global BC) in 1986 and has worked for news stations in Prince George, Halifax, and Victoria.

She anchored weekend news and News Hour Final at Global BC, and also hosted the daily talk show Unfiltered on Global News’ all-news channel BC1.

“Under her watch, Global BC has cemented its place at the top of the ratings, taken home major awards nationally and internationally and has continued to lead innovation in an ever-changing industry,” Global News senior vice-president Ward Smith stated in a news release. Krop has also supported various local charities including the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, Coast Mental Health Foundation, and B.C. Children’s Hospital and Variety telethons.

Over the course of her career, Krop has faced controversies, such as in November 2016 when a petition launched calling for Krop’s resignation after Global News broadcast a video of a fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old at an Abbotsford secondary school. 

On September 26, diversity and inclusion speaker Mo Dhaliwal wrote a commentary for the Georgia Straight about his experience of being invited to talk on Focus BC about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's blackface scandal. While preparing for the segment, he overheard a Global staff member making a blackface joke and Dhaliwal spoke about that during the taped interview.

However, the segment never aired, and Dhaliwal raised concerns about censorship.

Subsequently on September 27, Focus BC invited Dhaliwal back to discuss the experience with Krop in a new segment. 

On August 26, the day before Krop's resignation was announced, Vice News published an investigation into racial discrimination at Global News, after several journalists who had repeatedly raised concerns about racism at the media outlet were laid off during a recent round of cuts.