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Woman's Hour today on Camila Batmanghelidjh

132 replies

PursuingProxemicExactitude · 25/02/2021 10:36

I honestly have no words.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sjxy

Relentless hostility and suspicion. Not one single positive word in half an hour. So tired of this. Woman's Hour is a travesty of itself now.

(I glimpsed another thread but can't find it.)

OP posts:
Clawdy · 25/02/2021 10:52

Was it Emma Barnett? She is very aggressive, an odd choice in my opinion.

PursuingProxemicExactitude · 25/02/2021 11:41

Yes, it was her.

Must say, I'm becoming curious about the editorial oversight on the programme. Hard to imagine a meeting where they decided that the only approach to the interviewee would be to imply that she must have done something wrong, and that even her success was suspect.

OP posts:
stilllovingmysleep · 25/02/2021 21:25

I was also appalled by this interview today. Emma Barnett was so hostile and attacking, and constantly interrupted!!

I just really miss the gentleness, humour and grace of Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray. Why can't Emma Barnett be told that interrupting so much is so disrespectful?!

Butteredtoast55 · 25/02/2021 22:02

I agree. EB is really aggressive in her questioning and seems to think the interview is about her. Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray let people speak and you had a far better insight into them as a result.

VinylDetective · 25/02/2021 22:07

Emma Barnett is such a bad fit with WH. She’s so aggressive and so rude. I’m really hoping she won’t last long. Fridays are so much better with Anita Rani.

raffle · 25/02/2021 22:09

At one point CB said something like ‘where are you trying to position me, what do you want me to say?’ Such was the level of railroading.

Lovethewater · 25/02/2021 22:12

Her 'Interview' with Zara Muhammed a couple of weeks ago was also shockingly aggressive, hostile and rude. The first time I have ever made a complaint to Woman's Hour! Thank goodness for Anita Rani at the endnof the week.

SingingSands · 25/02/2021 22:15

I listened to that and it wasn't a good interview, it felt like EB was trying hard to get a "scoop". The case has gone on for so long that no stone has been left unturned, yet she was really pressing for an admission from CB - either of guilt or regret. CB raised some good points but I did feel she was slowly being herded into a corner and of course then she sounded defensive.

OldRailer · 25/02/2021 22:15

I can imagine Anita Rani being a better listen.

Tankflybosswalkjam · 25/02/2021 22:15

Actually I think it’s more than fair enough. CB is a massive liability. How on Earth she avoided prison is beyond me. At best her actions have been negligent. But then if there had been proper governance it wouldn’t have happened. Sadly she railroaded over that.

Coroico97 · 25/02/2021 22:16

Totally agree. Thought it was just me. I have thought it a few times. Sometimes it’s been hard to listen to and I end up shouting at the radio! It’s not at all relaxing to listen to.

dublingirl66 · 25/02/2021 22:16

Yes exactly guys

So unnecessary

Why have they done this to Womans hour

I'm really disappointed with the producers and all the other fools who thinks she is doing a good job
It's more like Question Time (and a bully to top it )

VladmirsPoutine · 25/02/2021 22:18

Emma Barnett is frankly one of the worst 'journalists', employees of the BBC I've come across. She is incredibly rude, condescending and oftentimes (if not always) does not have the range to discuss the topics she's discussing. She epitomises absolutely everything that's wrong with modern/girl-boss 'feminism'.

bootlebum · 25/02/2021 22:20

I agree CB is a serious liability, I think religious organisations should be held to account for their treatment of women and I think anti Semitism should be called out.

But I still hate the aggression that Emma Barnett constantly displays. And that's not about her being a women held to a different standard - I hated the same aggression in John Humphries, Jeremy Paxman etc. Feels too much like she's looking for news coverage of her show rather than doing any meaningful interviewing.

Pimlicojo · 25/02/2021 22:31

I didn't hear it, but shall listen to it. I think the fact that CB has not been held accountable for her actions is a travesty. A total failure of justice, possibly because of the high profile figures who offered public support. And public money.

LizzieMacQueen · 25/02/2021 22:32

@Coroico97

Totally agree. Thought it was just me. I have thought it a few times. Sometimes it’s been hard to listen to and I end up shouting at the radio! It’s not at all relaxing to listen to.
@Coroico97

I thought the same. It was just me. Forget who I heard her interrogate a few weeks back but it was awful. Much better placed on Newsnight. Wonder if we can swap her for Kirsty Wark?

WonderWomansPants · 25/02/2021 22:35

I was happy to hear CB held to account as she deserves.

I like EB and think that a gutsy woman presenter is a good thing. The contrast with Anita on Fridays works for balance. Not all female presenters need to be cuddly.

Serenschintte · 25/02/2021 22:45

People won’t want to come on to be interviewed if she is so aggressive.

VladmirsPoutine · 25/02/2021 22:48

The thing is it's not that people want her to be 'cuddly' it's that she honestly has no idea what she's talking about. None. Her whole schtick is akin to that Simpson's meme of Grandpa Jo yelling at the sky... for being no apparent reason. She's not 'hard-hitting'. I despair that Glamour magazine have given her a column but they've also become a sunken ship over the years so I suppose they complement eachother.

weebarra · 25/02/2021 22:52

I haven't heard her, but listened to Anita last week which was really interesting.

MaMaLa321 · 25/02/2021 23:01

I think CB has got off very lightly and should have hard questions asked of her.

Nith · 25/02/2021 23:10

@Tankflybosswalkjam

Actually I think it’s more than fair enough. CB is a massive liability. How on Earth she avoided prison is beyond me. At best her actions have been negligent. But then if there had been proper governance it wouldn’t have happened. Sadly she railroaded over that.
After a very long court hearing when her conduct was examined minutely there was a long, detailed judgment setting out why she had not done anything that merited being disqualified as a charity trustee, let alone prison. Do you think the judge who went through that exercise probably knows more about it than you do?
VinylDetective · 25/02/2021 23:11

I don’t want cuddly. There’s a huge spectrum between cuddly and being a bully. Barnett’s a bully. WM is going to be very short of guests at this rate.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 25/02/2021 23:11

Emma is truly awful - there’s been so many aggressive interviews from her that she’s absolutely ruining what was once a really good programme. I don’t know what she’s trying to achieve (other than smaller audience figures) - does she fancy herself as the new John Humphreys?

Please bring back Jane Garvey et al. They could interview firmly but respectfully.

thepeopleversuswork · 25/02/2021 23:13

I think CB is shady as fuck and deserves tough questions but I also think Emma Barnett is wrong for Woman's Hour. She was OTT when she did Newsnight.

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