Emma Barnett

[ProvincialLady2024]

What do we think?

I'm finding her interviews difficult to listen to.

I'm hoping she'll settle into the role.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the interview this morning. On the one hand I don’t like that sort of adversarial questioning and really disliked it from Humphries. On the other hand, however, I was kind of riveted by it. Hunt couldn’t get his message across at all, which I was very pleased about but whether that means politicians won’t bother coming on in future is another matter. I completely agree about not wanting to hear vox pox. A good interviewer can skewer their interviewee much better with clever questioning and come backs. I think she will get better at in time.

I partially agree - it was a poor interview. However, she's still settling in and I hope she will calm down a bit, allow the interviewees to speak more than two words before trying a 'gotcha' that isn't, and listen to the answers. I think that Michal does it better - listens to the nonsense and then skewers, rather than talking constantly.

I personally dislike the Today programme now - it's turning into such a 'magazine' type show and hasn't been a 'serious' news programme for a long time - but then so much of the BBC's output has been dumbed down and 'popularized' (IMO).

I have lots of issues with Emma Barnett however I don’t think she ‘scraped herself’ up into her position. Her father was a middle class criminal with a lovely house in a great area funding a private school education.

That's very interesting. I disagree with you, obviously. I like a good challenging question on a political programme and I think the fact that he didn't answer it said a lot. He knows people aren't generally richer at the moment and if he says he is he also knows that will underline the imbalance.

I wonder if some of you would prefer radio 2 in a morning. The today programme has been feisty for many years and is clearly popular.

I'm pleased she is on the Today programme, and I enjoy hearing her interviewing.

I think that Michal does it better - listens to the nonsense and then skewers, rather than talking constantly.

I agree - laser focus to identify the precise point that needs addressing and then doggedly holding onto that until the interviewee answers (or doesn't answer, as in the case of Patrick Harvie a few weeks ago. I think it was Nick Robinson interviewing him.).

Rather than verbose waffle that has listeners trying to remember what the question was, let alone whether it was worth asking.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to listening figures over the next few months. I gave up on Today a couple of years ago but, having listened to the Hunt interview to see what all the fuss was about, I think I might become a regular listener again. EB clearly got under Hunt’s skin and that’s what I want from an interviewer.

She was brilliant, for far too long interviewers have let politicians, of all parties, off the hook.

The Tories have been in for 14 years, she had a nurse who is struggling and why should anyone object to him being asked about Housing? Landlords? Liz Truss?

I hope when she gets Rachel Reeves in, she'll challenge her too but the difference is that Reeves hasn't been governing this country for the last 14 years and what a mess we are.....

EB's interview with Jeremy Hunt was dreadful - way too aggressive. He barely got a chance to speak. I want to hear what he has to say and for him to be probed intelligently, not aggressively. And I certainly don't care about what some random listener wrote in an email.

She was also terrible with the education secretary last week in her interview about changes to the SRE guidance - she took a "know it all" stance but clearly didn't understand that not delivering lessons to primary school children about transgender issues doesn't equate to not being able to answer questions about it if the children raise it as a subject, and certainly doesn't mean that conversations can't take place with children who are questioning their gender.

EB's interview with Jeremy Hunt was dreadful - way too aggressive. He barely got a chance to speak. I want to hear what he has to say and for him to be probed intelligently, not aggressively. And I certainly don't care about what some random listener wrote in an email

The BBC make sure the email is genuine, from a nurse, why shouldn't he be asked about a uk citizen who is not feeling better off?

Prices are on average over 20% higher now, than they were 2 years ago, wages haven't kept up, this is under his watch.

Hunt likes to down play Truss but she devastated pensions.

He spoke a lot more than EB did, so i think we all heard the Tory message 😂

For anyone who missed it and wants to hear what some posters are deeming "haranguing" https://x.com/Haggis_UK/status/1793197823153885455

God he's patronising.
Ukraine, covid blah blah blah

I'd be pissed off with that answer to a question about why rents have gone up too 😂

And let's face it, we are all wondering what they've been doing for 14 years!

Good point @chocolatecoveredpeanut

I went straight from the EB interview to his interview with Aasmah Miah on Times radio , a less flashy but just as challenging and more informative, conversation in my opinion

@cyclamenqueen , do you have a link to the Aasmah Mir interview please?

Imagine listening to The Times Radio. Biggest competitor must be GB News.

I'm not familiar with Aasmah Mir as a journalist but I'd be willing to listen.

This! I think she's great.

"Hunt likes to down play Truss but she devastated pensions."

Truss devastated a few things, but Hunt was charged with getting things back on track and has done a reasonable job with the cards he was dealt. He should be allowed to talk about that.

p.s. I've never been a Conservative voter, but I'm happy to give credit where it's due. Some Conservatives do a good job, others are piss-poor. Same with every party.

He's quit now anyway hasn't he? So no point crying for him anyway.
He was trying to tell her no one was feeling the pinch...that's not extolling his virtues at all but gaslighting the entire nation.

"He's quit now anyway hasn't he?"
No, he's standing for re-election.

"He was trying to tell her no one was feeling the pinch."

No, he was trying to tell her what he'd done to bring inflation down since taking the reigns from his shambolic predecessor.

Have you ever listened ? I would say has a spread of presenters , Ayesha Hazerika is not exactly right wing (she’s a Labour peer) or Kezia Dugdale or Ed Vaizy , or Jane Garvey and Fi Glover or Mariella or Kathleen Stock or Joan Bakewell. I like that they have a lot of female presenters. I would say it has a more magazine format but they tend to let people dig their own hole and fall in. GB News or LBC it is not. (Avoid the columnists on Wed morning though because that is a right wing nightmare , they don’t give them free rein though) And for the record I am not a Conservative voter , I make sure that I listen to a range of views but do draw the line at GB News .

I think it was following on from @Plexie's observation that

'I've heard other posters rave about her joining Today after doing Woman's Hour (which I don't listen to). Dead Ringers have already started taking the piss out of her by portraying her treating Today as a phone-in programme.'

So an allusion to the phone-in style of her previous programme being perhaps hard for her to leave behind in these first few days on air.

So a Govt that wrecked the economy and many peoples lives, should be trusted to have another 5 years in power?

Yes Hunt should and was allowed to talk about his tenure in No 11 but he should also be questioned on subjects he doesn't like, its not Barnetts job to do their PR.

If they can vote in Truss as PM, whats to stop them from voting in another lunatic?

At least Labour have changed the rules so that another Corbyn can't get become leader, the Tories have done no such thing... another Truss can become PM.