I’m sure others will have their say on this. Ed Stourton has been dropped from the Today programme to be replaced by North America correspondent and frequent star of this blog Justin Webb.
Isn’t Today anti-American enough ? Obviously not.
Mark Damazer said: “Justin has been an outstanding voice on Radio 4 News and Current Affairs output. His work in the United States has been one of the joys of the network.”
Discuss.
I dont think they know what they want. What News want from it and what R4 want from it arent necessarily the same thing either.
They were bothered by the idea of losing people in their 40s to Channel 4 Radio – but C4 radio isnt happening, and Humphrys is the one who puts the ‘younger’ audience off.
In any case Evan Davies, has changed the tone of the interviews sufficiently IMO to keep us youngsters onside.
Oh well, its not like the British Public would want a toff from Eton to do anything important is it? Only trivial things like run the country.
David Preiser (USA) | Homepage | 16.12.08 – 3:00 pm
while Justin Webb may not speak like an Ipswich monkey
I’ve never been quite able to summon the right words to describe the peculiar way Justin Webb talks. ‘Bristol Quaker’ doesn’t quite catch it.
But ‘Ipswich monkey’ is damned close.
BBC U-turn:
“Tim Walker walks the plank at BBC”
“Forget about Ed Stourton. Forget, almost, about the Strictly Come Dancing scandal. Daily Telegraph diarist Tim Walker, it appears, has been told his services are no longer required on the BBC News channel’s newspaper review this month. ‘There is quite enough paranoia at the BBC as it is,’ writes Walker in his Mandrake column today. He prefers Stourton to his Today replacement Justin Webb, you see. ‘The other day a corporation hireling told me that the evening newspaper reviews I had been invited to do for the BBC’s news channel this month will not now be happening. A chum at Wood Lane whispers that the powers-that-be took exception to a piece I wrote about Fiona Bruce moaning about the ‘tat’ that viewers brought to the Antiques Roadshow. Well, it’s their loss.’ Walker tells Monkey: ‘It’s tempting to say it’s about what Jeremy Paxman was saying about how white middle class males have no chance at the BBC these days.'”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2008/dec/16/monkey-bbc-timwalker
-And the U-TURN:
“BBC u-turn sees Tim Walker back on news channel”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2008/dec/16/monkey-timwalker2