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

[frostymornings]

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.

I couldn’t listen to Jenni Murray - she sounded like she had too much spit and was nearly gargling!

Emma Barnett has completely ruined women's hour for me. I absolutely cannot stand her interviewing style. She is also very biased and as you say must get her views accross. She keeps interrupting the interviewees. I cannot stand it anymore.

I sent the bbc radio a feedback email and they were very defensive about her. In fact they called her an excellent & professional presenter. Absolute BS!!!!!

I don't hate EB but I agree she is unnecessarily... accusative? in her manner of speaking.

Empress Strange time to resurrect this thread considering the excellent interview she did with Raquel Rosario Sanchez yesterday.

Agree that Jane Garvey was the best WH presenter.

TBH I can't bear listening to any of Radio 4 now. It used to be on from dawn til dusk, but it's awful now.

Totally agree. It's not an interviewing style that arrives at any productive or interesting discourse. Just a series of barked questions and interrogations without giving the interviewee time to answer.

I always found John humphreys impossible to listen to for the same reason.

Emma Barnett is the girlboss of girlbosses. She is absolutely terrible.

@TeenMinusTests I was just looking to see if there were any mentions of the WH interview with RR Sanchez, because I heard it yesterday and was so pleased that she had been given airtime. And I think Emma Barnett is a very good presenter, actually.

I love Emma Barnett - so intelligent and incisive.

For Jane Garvey fans, as well as Fortunately she also has another podcast, Life Changing which is excellent, she interviews ordinary people about life changing events. Apparently,try what she enjoyed most about WH. Not interviewing the celebrities with something to flog!
I find EB very monotone.

She's really finding her style with it, in my opinion. I found her a bit combative at first- tense sounding- but she now seems more mellow while still sounding keen.

I just cannot listen to Emma barnett. I am someone who has radio 4 on all day, every day and I love it. But, although I have persevered to give Emma barnett a chance ( for well over a year now), I finally cracked today and switched her off. I’d rather hear nothing! I will switch radio 4 off for the duration of woman’s hour from now on… I can’t say I was a particular fan of jenni Murray or Jane Garvey but I listened every day and enjoyed most of it ( for years). But I just can’t listen to Emma Barnett.. it’s her voice, her interview style… the topics are interesting but I just can’t listen to her!

I love how this thread is revived from time to time. I am still in the same boat as you, Jairo. Emma Barnett has ruined Woman's Hour. She is blatantly biased and really pushes her view and is overall arrogant. She demeans people too. It really comes through her interviewing style.
Anne Robinson called her out on woman's hour yesterday and told her she was 'too probing' and that she hasn't been asked these questions last year. So glad somebody called her out.

I didn't hear it that way! I thought Robinson was quite impressed.

I thought that too @leafinthewind

When Jenni and Jane left Woman's Hour, I stopped listening to Radio 4 altogether.

I couldn't stand JM, loved Jane Garvey and she would make me laugh. I feel EB has made it way too political and I'm someone who loves politics but don't want to hear it all the time. It's really become a women's rights programme as opposed to reflecting the diversity of women's interests and lives. In addition, she lets some interviews go on way past any point of interest. Having got rid of the dreary story at the end, it seems that they let those pieces run on rather than the producers finding another topic to fill the time.

I feel the same. I’ve started stalking Jane Garvey on her other podcasts instead

I see what you're saying, but it's only because Anne put Emma in her place at the beginning of the interview so Emma knew to behave herself as Anne would give it back just as good.

I like her, and have found her interviewing style to be essential in cases where the people being interviewed were promoting ideologies more than fact.

On women’s rights in the face of various encroachments by Stonewall. for example, where I happened to know enough myself to know what needed to be revealed, leaving the interviewees simply to speak would have left listeners gaslighted.

Remember how Jenni Murray was treated by the BBC.

VladmirsPoutine · 21/10/2021 11:16
Emma Barnett is the girlboss of girlbosses. She is absolutely terrible.

What do you mean by ‘girl boss’ exactly? Do you mean aggressive? She always seems to me a combination of persistent, but warm hearted and sympathetic in tone.

I used to find John Humohreys on Today far more aggressive, full of interruption’s etc