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Original poster

Woman's hour - I can't listen to it

146 replies

frostymornings · 19/01/2021 10:36

Agh is it just me? I used to love a bit of woman's hour on the radio as I worked from home, I can't listen to it now.
The topics are still really relevant but I just find the new presenter Emma Barnett is so hard to listen to! Her interviewing style is so confrontational and she interrupts a lot. I was just listening to her interviewing someone about the importance of work place managers being in a good position to spot signs of domestic abuse, and how they could offer support. She kept interrupting and demanding exactly how this would happen rather then letting the guy speak.
To be fair I turned it off at that point so maybe the rest of the interview was Ok, but I do miss Jenni Murray and Jane Garvey, they had such a wonderful easy natural way about them.

OP posts:

VinylDetective · 20/01/2021 13:10

@Pasteisdenata

Also, I'm happy to be accused of tinfoilhattery here, but if listening figures fall, could the BBC be happy to axe the programme completely citing a lack of need for it?

Depends if the figures are radically different for Monday to Thursday to Friday and Saturday. If Anita Rani retains listeners, there’s less of an argument for axing it.

Original poster

frostymornings · 20/01/2021 14:04

So interesting to read everyone's views on this. Particularly about the role of the young female presenter and how they are pushed to act and behave in a certain way.
I also completely agree that Radio 4 have completely misjudged their target audience. Perhaps they are pushing for a younger, different audience but as PP have said, that leaves the rest of us without anywhere else to go

OP posts:

KirstenBlest · 20/01/2021 14:10

Not a huge fan of WH. Have listened once since EB started and I felt it was just WH but without JG's 'big sister' tone.

It takes a while to get used to someone new, and if the old format worked, why change it.

I wasn't keen on JM and probably that was due to her intonation, but I did like JG.

I'm from the same sort of part of the country as JG and Winifred Robinson, so I like their voices.

Interested in this thread?

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Radio

Sooverthemill · 20/01/2021 15:07

@frostymornings every time they have a shame up they say they are aiming at a new younger audience but they've got it wrong this time by the sound of it. I haven't been a regular listener to the daily programme for years and years but sometimes hear the Saturday round up. I would like them to keep it bug make it truly diverse to reach a wider audience as well as the current listeners

AbsintheFriends · 20/01/2021 15:36

I think they're onto a loser with trying to attract a younger audience.

My kids have grown up with radio 4 being on as background in the kitchen. It's part of their home culture, but when I gave my 26 year old dd a radio when she moved into her first house she looked at it as if it was some curious vintage implement and said that, honestly, she would never use it. She's of the generation that likes to curate their own listening. They don't passively listen to a schedule that has been chosen without their specific interests in mind. They want to choose their own podcasts or listen again playlist, or watch things on their phones while they're having breakfast.

Aiming to impress the 20 somethings and ignoring their core listeners is a bit like me sidelining my lovely husband of 30 years to flirt with the 22 year old hot gym instructor. I might get his attention briefly, but I won't keep it. And I'll lose sight of my real self and compromise much of value in the process.

Meredithgrey1 · 20/01/2021 15:43

I’m in my twenties, and I’ve listened to woman’s hour for years. But I am subscribed to the podcast and listen to it later. The podcast is something else they’ve changed with EB, previously at the end of the podcast, Jane would record an extra bit where she’d read out listener emails about the show, I know they do that a bit during the show but this was a good 5-10 mins of just different perspectives/experiences/opinions on what had been featured. It was interesting because often someone would have a totally different thought to what had been discussed, or come at it from a totally different angle. EB doesn’t seem to be doing it.

AbsintheFriends · 20/01/2021 15:50

Apologies Meredith I totally spoke for you and your generation there! Didn't mean to make annoying and inaccurate generalisations.

Meredithgrey1 · 20/01/2021 16:56

@AbsintheFriends

Apologies Meredith I totally spoke for you and your generation there! Didn't mean to make annoying and inaccurate generalisations.

No you’re probably right! As I say, I listen to the podcast which is maybe more common for people my age. Although I also listen to the archers podcast while knitting so am perhaps slightly old before my time

Original poster

frostymornings · 20/01/2021 18:33

Meredith sounds like heaven

OP posts:

Original poster

frostymornings · 26/01/2021 10:46

Thought I'd give it another go, today seems much better. Missed the first part about gambling but listened to the short woman interview, the mayor of Liverpool, and the following piece about the forensic people (sorry didn't catch official title)
EB hardly interrupted at all and showed empathy I felt, also read out quite a few listeners emails/tweets, all in all much better.
Maybe Woman's hour producers read this thread

OP posts:

BringMeTea · 26/01/2021 11:18

Well I caught the gambling bit and she was combative but I feel it was entirely appropriate! Maybe it is just about her finding a balance.

MilesJuppIsMyBitch · 26/01/2021 14:27

I found her much better too. I wondered if she was counting to ten in her head to stop herself from interrupting

Much better, I thought. Phew.

Original poster

frostymornings · 26/01/2021 23:35

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch

I found her much better too. I wondered if she was counting to ten in her head to stop herself from interrupting

Much better, I thought. Phew.

Ha ha I wondered this too

OP posts:

SwedishEdith · 26/01/2021 23:52

Was never a WH listener until Covid and now get annoyed at any call booked for 10:00. I liked JG very much so tried to listen to one of the podcasts (picked at random from last year) with Fi Glover. I had to turn it off - all the forced giggling and overlaughing was too much. What could have been an interesting chat between friends was ruined by the trying too hard to be "entertaining".

Cactuslockdown · 27/01/2021 00:12

I haven’t listened to today’s programme yet so I’m pleased to hear it was better. I’m missing JM and JG too. I hope EB settles in to the role and chills out a bit... I can’t stand the aggressive interviews either, it’s not what I want from lovely WH! I agree with PP that Anita Rani was great last week; warmer, more conversationalist. Wishing EB luck though, not easy to step into such a role

CountessFrog · 27/01/2021 00:16

Can we also have a moan about the interviewing style (and quality of callers) on ‘Any Answers?’

I can’t bear it!

RAOK · 27/01/2021 00:18

It’s unbearable! She was totally the wrong choice. I’m not sure she’ll last long.

Original poster

frostymornings · 27/01/2021 17:34

@CountessFrog

Can we also have a moan about the interviewing style (and quality of callers) on ‘Any Answers?’

I can’t bear it!

Oh yes I agree! Who's the woman who presents it, she has such an irritating voice (sorry!) and keeps interrupting!

OP posts:

CountessFrog · 28/01/2021 21:56

She does! And talks for too long then cuts people off when they are making really good points.

And! Then she lets absolute buffoons talk for longer. I despair at some of the callers.

medebourne · 28/01/2021 22:19

Totally agree with so many of you!

I found Jenny Murray's intonation really hard to listen to. She has a world weary drawl as if overcome by the awfulness of female oppression but oddly coupled with an abrupt rising inflection at the end of her sentences as if startled and annoyed, if even she was just announcing a recipe for apple pie.

I absolutely loved JG on WH and also love her on the Fortunately podcast. It's one of the highlights of my week and seems to be even better recently. It got a bit dull during the first lockdown as if they were both depressed and I think they hardly ever get the most out of their guests as they talk too much about and between themselves. They also are much better with female guests. There have been quite a few male guests where I felt they were doing an 'aren't you a silly boy' routine which they might have said was banter but the guest didn't actually enjoy. The episode with Will Self was embarrassing in that respect. But overall I highly recommend the podcast.

Agree with everyone who says EG is trying too hard to be hard hitting. Maybe she will relax into the role with time?

AllChange2021 · 29/01/2021 00:37

Totally agree with you OP. But why did JG leave? Her reason - that it's time to go when you start to feel comfortable- or something like that - sounded complete nonsense. If you have a wildly popular presenter of a much loved and listened to show, why change? Was she pushed to leave ? What are the machinations that go on behind such a change ? And can anyone tell me why Evan Davies left Newsnight?

Thimbleberries · 29/01/2021 07:57

Actually last Wednesday was the first time I had listened to it with EB as the host, and it sounds like I got lucky on the day, as I thought it was a really good one - that interview with Clemency Burton-Hill was astonishing and moving and just amazing, though that was mostly due to Clemency, and not EB!

I haven't listened since, as I only hear it if I happen to be in the car, but I follow JM on Twitter now, and it is clear from her retweets and comments why she left, for sure.

Peaseblossom22 · 29/01/2021 08:43

Actually I think JG is probably being pretty honest , she has talked about it on her podcast in more detail. A large part of the attraction of WH when she first took it was the fact that it fitted her family life ( interesting ongoing discussion about this on the podcast) . Her youngest is about to leave school, she is mid fifties she feels now is a good time to change and take on a new challenge. She does have a new BBC programme coming up.

By coincidence I am the same age my youngest left school last summer and I have just left what many would have thought of as an ideal job which I had been in for 15 years . I just feel I need something new to challenge me .

venus22 · 03/06/2021 10:33

@greengrassapreciationsociety

yes, I just feel that metaphorically Emma gets her balls out and on the table too much like it is a balling competition. She is ambitious and competitive and I hear it in her interviews and it annoys me as I want her to stop trying so hard to prove she is the best somehow. A good interviewer lets the subject take a breath, but no chance with Emma.

Exactly...........and her voice has a touch of vocal fry with sloppy pronunciation. Very unpleasant to listen to. She has a voice to increase sales of painkillers!

JeanneDoe · 03/06/2021 10:35

Its days are probably numbered - it'll probably be People's Hour soon enough...

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