The bureau, announced in July as a non-profit initiative to fund public interest investigative journalism through both 'conventional and new media channels', is set to launch in 2010.
Set up with a £2 million grant from the David and Elaine Potter Foundation, it is also supported by Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times; Seymour Hersh, who has been at the forefront of investigative journalism for decades; and Nick Davies, award-winning investigative reporter and author of Flat Earth News.
Overton has worked in over 50 countries for the BBC and Channel 4. He has won a number of awards for his films, including a Peabody, a OneWorld Media Award and a BAFTA Scotland.
Overton's mission is to 'reinvigorate' journalism in the public interest in the face of industry pressures, said Elaine Potter, BIJ co-founder and former Sunday Times journalist, in a release announcing the appointment.
"Iain also brings a commercial intelligence to bear on the many opportunities opened by the proliferation of new media," she said.
The state of investigative journalism is 'derelict', added Overton, 'and there is a vital need for honest information to combat distortion and spin'.
"The bureau aims to be a world leader in investigative journalism and I am passionately committed to achieving this. I hope to attract the best and the boldest and the most dogged in our profession to work on stories that pursue the truth and hold the powerful to account," he said.
Overton replaces Stephen Grey, the journalist who launched the UK Investigations Fund in June 2009, who was acting editor.
The bureau, led by directors at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, will seek to incorporate the work of the Investigations Fund, its founders reported in July.
While it is the UK's first such endeavour, similar models have been established in the US: ProPublica, supported by the Sandler Foundation; and the recently launched Huffington Post Investigative Fund, for example.
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