Here’s the news, Mr Paxman … the women are taking over
EMILY Maitlis has been hailed ‘the new Jeremy Paxman’ after she was made lead presenter on Newsnight – heading its first ever all-woman line-up.
She will replace Evan Davis, who left last autumn to present Radio 4’s PM programme, and will be joined by long-standing host Kirsty Wark and Radio 5 Live presenter Emma Barnett.
Yesterday Newsnight editor Esme Wren said the trio marked a new wave of ‘no-nonsense’ interviewers, and that viewers will no longer be harking back to the ‘Paxman era’.
‘With this set-up, we are now out of the Paxman era. Emily is a huge star and that has now been recognised,’ Miss Wren said.
‘When looking for presenters, it is about their ability to do robust interviews. It is that no-nonsense approach. At the moment there is so much going on, we need to get straight to the nub of the issue.’
Paxman was loved and loathed in equal measure for his ferocious interviewing style on the programme, which he fronted for 25 years until 2014.
In 1997 he famously asked the then Home Secretary Michael Howard the same question 12 times in a single eight-minute interview, without getting a satisfactory answer.
His persistence often forced politicians to give direct answers. But some viewers felt he tipped over into rudeness by becoming exasperated or interrupting too often.
Miss Maitlis, who worked with Paxman on Newsnight, is also known for her robust interviewing style. This month the 48-year-old caused controversy by rolling her eyes during an interview with Labour trade spokesman Barry Gardiner when he refused to clarify what Labour’s position on Brexit would be in any future referendum.
Last night Newsnight viewers hailed her as ‘the new Paxman’ and joked that Paxman would have been Emily Maitlis ‘if he had been born a girl’. ‘Paxman is dead, long live Maitlis! Newsnight – long have we waited!’ one viewer wrote on Twitter.
Miss Maitlis said she was delighted to become lead presenter at a time when Newsnight ‘feels so pivotal to our understanding of this extraordinary moment in British history’.
Miss Barnett said she could not ‘wait get started at Newsnight at a time when no one can predict the next hour in British politics, never mind the next evening’.
Miss Wark, who has worked on Newsnight for 25 years, will increase the number of editions she presents every month.