To say Sam was obviously thrown in the deep end and this was most likely her first time being on-air when there's a big breaking story developing, she did quite well. Yes, she was a bit repetitive, but you can't do much else without new details. She also welcomed viewers to Osterley because the previous programme had been from Westminster.
Whilst its unfair to 'slate' presenters, I think many would concede that the likes of Sam, Tom and Sophy don't have the same experience of Sky stalwarts like Kay, and others like Anna Botting and Anna Jones. Whilst its great that Sky News is giving younger journalists their big break, it seems that its not happening for any other reason but cost-cutting. Sophy in particularly is a great reporter but she hasn't yet settled into the presenter role for me, as her delivery seems a little forced.
Tonight's breaking news shows that with this new roster of presenters, Sky are exposing themselves, IMO.
Being fair to sky it is also the week before the launch of the new studios, and they do currently also have a high profile presenter in America in addition to whatever rehearsing is being done in the glass box.
The week before the NBH launch the BBC NC was also presented by a lot of end of line presenters including double shifts by Jon Kay and Rachel Schofield and appearances of Robert Hall, Gavin Grey and Carole Walker, none of who appeared for months after the launch (apart from Gavin Grey on a strike day).
They have ONE presenter out and they are struggling. We're not talking about 3 or 4 presenters being off, we're talking about just one. Over the course of this year and next there are going to be occasions where they have to do without many more than that. So saying just because Kay in America makes all the difference is crazy, Over the course of the year there will be lots of days where 3-4 people might be off for a mixture of reasons, maternity leave, other commitments, being posted abroad, sickness etc.
Tom and Sam were on TV today because literally the cupboard is bare, not because of the fact Sky are moving studios or the fact Kay was in the US, simply because of the fact that there are too many presenters lacking in experience. Tom is fine as an overnight or sports presenter, Sam Naz is fine as an overnight presenter and Sophy is a great political correspondent. None of them should be anywhere near a daytime slot, let alone a prime one at this stage in their career.
As I said, they let far too many go, if they let 3 of the senior people go, such as JT, Eammon and Mark that I assume were on the biggest pay, that would be one thing, but to let Samantha, Andrew and Lorna go at the same time was too much. That's before we get to Sam Washington, Jannat Jalil, Paula Middlehurst and Martin Stanford. That's ten people who have left in approx the last year, all of which are much better than any of the people we had on today between 5-9.
Well, Sophy was in her "regular" time slot, Gamal, Tom and Sam were covering for Kay and Jeremy slots (Sarah Hewson is supposed to do this slot on Fridays, but she was covering for Kay on weekdays). Obviously, Gamal is the best of this pool, but Tom would have done fine as well if for some reason he wouldn't have been replaced by Sam for last 30 minutes of his shift.
This also happened because the schedule is being adjusted to the Jeremy's departure, so if this happened next week, it would probably meant 1 hour extension for whoever was before Gamal, then him taking 3-7 slot, followed by Sophy, and this would be pretty fine. Longer shifts would help them to cope with a thin relief pool.
RH
richard h
They are getting the worst of both worlds at the moment
Replacing experienced presenters with long term reporters who are then replaced by inexperienced reporters
On another topic what are people's thoughts of Afua Hirsch joining the pool of debaters on The Pledge? I don't think any Sky News employee should be on it and I find her almost as annoying as June Sarpong but not quite at her level yet.
On another topic what are people's thoughts of Afua Hirsch joining the pool of debaters on The Pledge? I don't think any Sky News employee should be on it and I find her almost as annoying as June Sarpong but not quite at her level yet.
As I've said before, The Pledge should be axed and is there to fill airtime. Leave the round table right-wing bating to Fox News.
On another topic what are people's thoughts of Afua Hirsch joining the pool of debaters on The Pledge? I don't think any Sky News employee should be on it and I find her almost as annoying as June Sarpong but not quite at her level yet.
As I've said before,
The Pledge should be axed
and is there to fill airtime. Leave the round table right-wing bating to Fox News.
On another topic what are people's thoughts of Afua Hirsch joining the pool of debaters on The Pledge? I don't think any Sky News employee should be on it and I find her almost as annoying as June Sarpong but not quite at her level yet.
As I've said before,
The Pledge should be axed
and is there to fill airtime. Leave the round table right-wing bating to Fox News.
Because it's right wing?
The Pledge attracts right-wing panelists. There are left wingers like Sarpong and Afuh Hirsch, but is largely an exercise in stoking the flames, rather than a sensible debate on the news unlike Week in Review.
They have ONE presenter out and they are struggling. We're not talking about 3 or 4 presenters being off, we're talking about just one.
A great tip for new members is to actually read the replies people make which put your own views into context - it's been mentioned many times why Sky is thinner on the ground this week than usual, and it isn't due to one presenter being on assignment.
Yes, you have valid points about recent redundancies but making them every time you post whilst seemingly not taking in the information provided by others does not make for great forum etiquette.
Anyway, moving on and picking up on your comment about Sophy being a great political hack it's probably worth noting the trend now to give experienced political reporters more prominent presenting roles as we head foolishly into the biggest political gamble of our lifetimes. I guess these things are kind of cyclical - looking back 10-15 years ago the trend was arguably more about getting world correspondents into presenting roles, while 5 years ago economic correspondents were the flavour of the day.
Despite the heavyweights leaving, Sky still has Stephen Dixon, Gillian Joesph, Colin Brazier, Kay Burley, Anna Botting, Anna Jones, Adam Boulton and Dermot Murnaghan. It's not all kids.
Dharshini David's Sky Twitter account has closed, so assume she's left. Sam Washington's is still going and says she's on a sabbatical. In Bogota four days ago.