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A former member
Off topic, but didnt really think it was worth setting up a whole new thread, so thought I'd put in here. From media guardian....
Sopel to become a Newsnight regular
Owen Gibson
Monday September 8, 2003
BBC News 24 presenter Jon Sopel is being lined up as a regular stand-in on Newsnight after impressing bosses when he anchored the show this summer.
He was one of several high profile journalists, including the programme's political editor Martha Kearney, asked to fill in while Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark and Gavin Esler were on holiday.
BBC News executives have acknowledged the merry-go-round of presenters over the summer months was disorientating for viewers; from now on they will ask Sopel to stand in on a regular basis when the normal presenters are away.
"Sopel is very good and has been doing very well on News 24 and next summer we will have just one presenter. In retrospect, we had perhaps too many on this year," said one executive.
Sopel, a former Paris correspondent and News 24's political correspondent, will one of the faces of the soon to be revamped News 24 channel.
As Paris correspondent, Sopel covered a wide range of stories for TV and radio, including the controversial French presidential elections in 2002, the immigration problems at the Sangatte refugee centre, the 2001 Concorde crash and the long-running saga of the British beef ban.
Sopel has clocked up two decades at the corporation since joining as a reporter for Radio Solent.
He has frequently appeared as a stand-in presenter on a range of bulletins and current affairs shows, including Breakfast News.
However, his background is politics - Sopel is a regular on BBC's annual coverage of the political party conference season and wrote the first biography of Tony Blair.
Before joining News 24 four years ago he was a regular reporter on the One O'Clock and Six O'Clock News
I have to agree - he is one of the best at BBC News and can adapt to pretty much anything, whether guest presenting the more "light weight" Breakfast, or the more serious "Newsnight", of just a regular BBC1/News 24 bulletin.
Sopel to become a Newsnight regular
Owen Gibson
Monday September 8, 2003
BBC News 24 presenter Jon Sopel is being lined up as a regular stand-in on Newsnight after impressing bosses when he anchored the show this summer.
He was one of several high profile journalists, including the programme's political editor Martha Kearney, asked to fill in while Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark and Gavin Esler were on holiday.
BBC News executives have acknowledged the merry-go-round of presenters over the summer months was disorientating for viewers; from now on they will ask Sopel to stand in on a regular basis when the normal presenters are away.
"Sopel is very good and has been doing very well on News 24 and next summer we will have just one presenter. In retrospect, we had perhaps too many on this year," said one executive.
Sopel, a former Paris correspondent and News 24's political correspondent, will one of the faces of the soon to be revamped News 24 channel.
As Paris correspondent, Sopel covered a wide range of stories for TV and radio, including the controversial French presidential elections in 2002, the immigration problems at the Sangatte refugee centre, the 2001 Concorde crash and the long-running saga of the British beef ban.
Sopel has clocked up two decades at the corporation since joining as a reporter for Radio Solent.
He has frequently appeared as a stand-in presenter on a range of bulletins and current affairs shows, including Breakfast News.
However, his background is politics - Sopel is a regular on BBC's annual coverage of the political party conference season and wrote the first biography of Tony Blair.
Before joining News 24 four years ago he was a regular reporter on the One O'Clock and Six O'Clock News
I have to agree - he is one of the best at BBC News and can adapt to pretty much anything, whether guest presenting the more "light weight" Breakfast, or the more serious "Newsnight", of just a regular BBC1/News 24 bulletin.
