Monika Plaha is an RTS award-winning news presenter and multi-platform journalist for BBC News channel & World. She currently presents BBC East Midlands Today, Mondays to Thursdays.

Monika's international presenting has led her to break major global and developing stories on air such as the Turkey-Syria earthquake, killing of Tyre Nichols, the China-US spy balloon, death of Lisa Marie Presley and the Russia-Ukraine war, amongst many others.

At BBC Look North, Monika presented the live lunch and evening programmes across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. She has also been seen reporting for BBC London, BBC Breakfast and World TV where she has reported on the deaths of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, pressures on the NHS frontline throughout the pandemic, the Manchester/London terror attacks and the Afghanistan refugee crisis.

As well as presenting the news, Monika has developed and reported on her own BBC Panorama investigation The Secret World of Trading Nudes, which helped change UK laws to better protect women against image-based sexual abuse. Monika's documentary was adapted into over 30 different outlets for BBC News across BBC iPlayer, Sounds, TV, radio, online and social media. Her report soon became the highest viewed BBC Panorama article of 2022 with 5 million views. In October 2022 the Women in Journalism organisation awarded her as an ‘Incredible Female Journalist’ following the impact and rollout of her Panorama documentary.

In April 2024, with more than six million people in England alone waiting for an operation on the NHS, Monika presented a Panorama special - NHS Patients Going Private: What Are The Risks? - investigating the safety record of one of the UK's biggest private healthcare providers.

Previously, Monika has won MHP's ‘30 To Watch’ for News & Investigations and won a Royal Television Society award for her stories across the North showcasing underrepresented and marginalised communities. At the BBC News awards Monika was a finalist for ‘Most Impactful Journalism’. She has also been the Political Reporter for ITN International, a Newsround Reporter and the ITV London News Assistant Editor.

Currently, Monika is a National Union of Journalists (NUJ) ambassador and volunteers as a BBC Young Reporter mentor. With a strong international knowledge and ability to communicate in three South Asian languages, Monika has reported for global outlets such as the New Straits Times (Malaysia) and Times of India.

Monika is an experienced events host and public speaker.