Ellie Winstanley appointed as Untold Commissioning Editor

Ellie Winstanley has been appointed as Commissioning Editor Current Affairs for Channel4’s Untold strand. Beginning initially on a 6-month FTC, she will directly report to Louisa Compton, Head of News and Current Affairs, Specialist Factual and Sport.

Now in its fifth series, the muti award nominated digital first strand for 16-34 year olds has proved to be remit-defining, with noisy and bold journalism fronted by diverse and authentic voices from across the UK. Highlights include the award-winning Hunting My Sextortion Scammer, which saw Jordan Stephens expose the tactics used to blackmail young British men and boys online, uncovering serious institutional failures in UK Prisons: Sex, Drugs & Corruption, a groundbreaking investigation The Truth About Spiking and an exposé Inside the Shein Machine which led to the fast fashion brand pledging to overhaul its labour practices.

Ellie has been Digital Commissioning Executive at Channel 4 since 2025, working across factual, social branded entertainment and Channel 4’s social-first food brand Served. She has also worked across platform-native storytelling strategies designed to engage younger audiences across YouTube and social platforms.

Prior to Channel 4 Ellie led development and production at Future Studios, working across Channel 4 Digital’s True Stories slate and shaping over 200 short form factual films exploring social issues affecting young people across the UK. She executive produced documentaries such as In Too Deep: Bug Chasers and Femcels: Inside the Female Incels, and the 16-part Ask The Mask, which received nominations from the New Voice Awards and Broadcast Digital Awards. Ellie’s career in journalism also extends to radio, working as a reporter for numerous local stations including BBC Merseyside, before moving into television production across primetime factual entertainment, specialist factual and documentary programming for broadcasters including the BBC and Channel 4.

Quote from Ellie Winstanley: "Untold has carved out such a distinctive space for films that combine incredible access, journalistic purpose and a sharp sense of what younger audiences actually care about across multiple emerging platforms. I’ve long admired the brilliant work that Janine Thomas has done with Untold, and I can’t wait to work with producers on the stories and worlds they want to take us into next.”

Quote from Louisa Compton, Head of News and Current Affairs, Specialist Factual and Sport at Channel 4 : “Untold plays a crucial role in bringing young audiences to current affairs - telling urgent, underreported stories in ways that feel authentic and accessible. Ellie is the perfect person to build on that success and take the strand to even more viewers.”