GH
Ahmed has been doing quite a lot for Radio 4 and World Service since leaving Channel 4. Whilst not someone who would immediately spring to mind to replace Reid, I'm not surprised the BBC wanted to find her a 'proper' role.
Apologies if this has been mentioned earlier in this thread or elsewhere, but I see that Samira Ahmed (ex-Channel 4 News) is taking over from Susanna Reid as presenter of BBC One's Sunday Morning Live, starting this weekend.
Ahmed has been doing quite a lot for Radio 4 and World Service since leaving Channel 4. Whilst not someone who would immediately spring to mind to replace Reid, I'm not surprised the BBC wanted to find her a 'proper' role.
RO
rob
Founding member
Ben de Pear named as the new editor of Channel 4 News. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/10/ben-de-pear-channel-4-news-editor
RD
Did anyone see Cathy Newman suffer as the link to Jon Snow went down at the very end of the show on Monday?
No? Well maybe this will help:
I understand filling unexpectedly is hard for any presenter but Cathy really struggled with just filling for one minute and you can hear the nerves hit her hard.
No? Well maybe this will help:
I understand filling unexpectedly is hard for any presenter but Cathy really struggled with just filling for one minute and you can hear the nerves hit her hard.
Last edited by RDJ on 12 September 2012 12:34am
AC
It makes me question again why she was picked as a co-presenter. There's been no improvement since her first appearance and I really don't think she has earnt her place alongside Jon Snow. She seemed much more comfortable as a reporter, not in the studio.
This video just proves this to me further.
This video just proves this to me further.
BB
worst bit of 'presenting' I think I've ever seen. The sad truth is, she's terrible at reading. There's also something a bit arrogant in the way she obviously thought she could wing it.
IT
Well from the snippets I heard, it seems a lot of money and time was spent training her in the months running up to her first appearance. So, I don't think there's any element of 'arrogance' and 'winging it' on her part. What I think it shows is that she's just not suited to presenting, no matter how much training is given. Sometimes people are just not meant to work in a certain role. That's no criticism of her as a journalist, as like Andrew, I think she was an excellent reporter. But, she's not presenting material.
If I can make a broader point, why is it that broadcasters think they can hand pick a reporter and make them into a presenter overnight? I'm sure there have been other examples in recent times, though they escape me right now. I think it comes down to cost - if they were to poach an experienced presenter, it would have cost Channel 4 a lot more money than they probably spent on Cathy Newman. But, I don't think that's a good enough excuse. If anything, it's the arrogance of Channel 4 that I'm surprised at. That they think they can wing it with their audience is most surprising, especially given their viewers are, shall we say, of higher intellect and more discerning than other channels? Their track history of presenters has been very good, right from the start in 1982, so it surprises me that they decided to chance it with someone inexperienced. What I think is sad in all of this is that they unceremoniously dumped poor Samira Ahmed who was ten times the presenter Newman is. She could easily have pulled off the role alongside Jon Snow.
itsrobert
Founding member
worst bit of 'presenting' I think I've ever seen. The sad truth is, she's terrible at reading. There's also something a bit arrogant in the way she obviously thought she could wing it.
Well from the snippets I heard, it seems a lot of money and time was spent training her in the months running up to her first appearance. So, I don't think there's any element of 'arrogance' and 'winging it' on her part. What I think it shows is that she's just not suited to presenting, no matter how much training is given. Sometimes people are just not meant to work in a certain role. That's no criticism of her as a journalist, as like Andrew, I think she was an excellent reporter. But, she's not presenting material.
If I can make a broader point, why is it that broadcasters think they can hand pick a reporter and make them into a presenter overnight? I'm sure there have been other examples in recent times, though they escape me right now. I think it comes down to cost - if they were to poach an experienced presenter, it would have cost Channel 4 a lot more money than they probably spent on Cathy Newman. But, I don't think that's a good enough excuse. If anything, it's the arrogance of Channel 4 that I'm surprised at. That they think they can wing it with their audience is most surprising, especially given their viewers are, shall we say, of higher intellect and more discerning than other channels? Their track history of presenters has been very good, right from the start in 1982, so it surprises me that they decided to chance it with someone inexperienced. What I think is sad in all of this is that they unceremoniously dumped poor Samira Ahmed who was ten times the presenter Newman is. She could easily have pulled off the role alongside Jon Snow.
IT
itsrobert
Founding member
One more point, I wonder why the director chose to make her go through hell like that desperately trying to adlib when the closing theme is a full 1 minute in duration? They actually only played about 20 seconds of it there. It's not unheard of to have a long, slow closing shot in order to fill time. Personally, I think that would have been a better choice as that was just cringeworthy. Strange...
BE
Exactly. They even had images over the music, so it's not as boring as a long studio shot.
Reminds me of Romilly Weeks.. although ITV News handled it better with a longer close.
(Skip to 5:33)
One more point, I wonder why the director chose to make her go through hell like that desperately trying to adlib when the closing theme is a full 1 minute in duration? They actually only played about 20 seconds of it there. It's not unheard of to have a long, slow closing shot in order to fill time. Personally, I think that would have been a better choice as that was just cringeworthy. Strange...
Exactly. They even had images over the music, so it's not as boring as a long studio shot.
Reminds me of Romilly Weeks.. although ITV News handled it better with a longer close.
(Skip to 5:33)
JW
Exactly. They even had images over the music, so it's not as boring as a long studio shot.
Reminds me of Romilly Weeks.. although ITV News handled it better with a longer close.
(Skip to 5:33)
Love that extended theme.
Incidentally, who is the other newscaster with Romilly?
One more point, I wonder why the director chose to make her go through hell like that desperately trying to adlib when the closing theme is a full 1 minute in duration? They actually only played about 20 seconds of it there. It's not unheard of to have a long, slow closing shot in order to fill time. Personally, I think that would have been a better choice as that was just cringeworthy. Strange...
Exactly. They even had images over the music, so it's not as boring as a long studio shot.
Reminds me of Romilly Weeks.. although ITV News handled it better with a longer close.
(Skip to 5:33)
Love that extended theme.
Incidentally, who is the other newscaster with Romilly?