Your taking me saying 'meeting her' far too literally...
I simply mean that you're basing your opinion of her on her TV appearences, which hardly defines somebody. You may claim that you can tell how she is off screen, but I find some (not all) of the comments on here strange.
Why does every single thread regarding the death of a talented TV personality turn into some moaning session?
It was quite fitting that Peter Sissons was on duty at the time when Carol Barnes' passing was announced, given that Carol's main initial newscasting role at ITN was to deputize for Peter Sissons on News at One. When Peter was away on vacation (infrequently admittedly), it was always Carol who filled in for the week.
As a youngster just getting interested in tv news, I always thought Carol spoke funny and very posh!!! Plummy was the word often used to describe her. However, she grew on me and it always became a pleasure to watch her on ITN.
I recall reading an article in the Sunday Observer Magazine circa December 1994 all about Carol ("Barnesie"), in which she appeared in jeans and Timberland boots with big thick socks on the sea front at Brighton, and the writer remarked that her (Carol's) outfit being so "de-rigeur" at the time, totally be-lieing her plummy on screen image.
In fact, the writer went on to explain how down to earth and normal the real Barnsie was, with an infectious smile and fun-poking attitude and a real pleasure to meet.
But it was her on screen ice-cool handling of the news presentation that will stick in my mind most. I can NEVER recall Carol Barnes making even the slightest of errors when annunciating to camera. Her delivery was consistent, clear and faultless. Whilst others would occasionally stumble over the odd word here and there, Carol Barnes never did. The consumate professional that she was, I recall her struggling through NaT one night with Sandy Gall and she had all but lost her voice. She carried-on however and laughed it off in the wide shot at the end, since Sandy had to do most of the reading that night!!
Whether we knew her personally or not should not change the fact that the lady has died and has left behind close ones and grieving family members who do not deserve some of the comments made earlier in this thread.
That comment about how she only read from a robotic machine made my blood boil. Why is such pathetic ignorance infuriating?
I never worked with Carol, nor did I ever meet her. But i have worked with alot of newsreaders over a few years some, of them excellent others piss-poor, judging by what I saw on screen and have read over the past day I can only saw that it would have been a honour to work with her. If anything the job she did did not do her nature justice. May be then we wouldn't have self-righteous pricks commenting in a nature that does not befit the occasion. When they have excelled to the heights of a respected and popular ITN newscaster someone please pm me and I'll gladly retract these comments untill such a time they can sod off.
There's one post on there that sounds as if the guy was being told to comment on Carol's death. What is it with people?! You either knew her or you didn't. Nobody goes "Oh yeah Carol Barnes, she's a newsreader, you probably haven't heard of her.. well, she died yesterday, you have to go and make a post about how you liked her" Just don't post.
One thing I'd like to say is how I really think her stroke and subsequent death have been reported with such dignity, a dignity that has been lacking in a few high-profile deaths lately.
This time the reporters got it right - they reported her initial stroke, but then left the story alone rather than making public the updates that really are a personal matter for the friends and family, not picking up the story again until her eventual death, which as well has been very respectfully reported without the mindless speculation and without the attempts to make it into a bigger story than it actually is.
And I think that in itself is an appropriate tribute to Carol Barnes.
Has Carol's funeral been held yet? There was no coverage of it in my area.
I hope ITN screens a fitting tribute during it's bulletins on the day. Having caught up with various media reports of her passing, I had forgotten just how good she really was.