Woman’s Hour’s new host? Try the Barnett formula
SHE is known for her hard-hitting interviews and outspoken views on women’s issues.
Now Radio 4 listeners will discover whether Emma Barnett is their morning cup of tea.
The 35-year-old was revealed yesterday as the new – younger – host of the longrunning Woman’s Hour.
She will replace Jane Garvey and Dame Jenni Murray, who have already said they will leave by the end of the year.
Miss Barnett, 35, who has made her name with her current Radio 5 Live show, will become main presenter in January.
Miss Garvey, 56, announced her departure last week after 13 years, while Dame Jenni, 70, who revealed in July she was
‘Exploring the issues that matter’
stepping down, has presented since 1987. Miss Barnett will host the programme, on air since 1946, from Monday to Thursday. A second presenter will be announced for Friday and Saturday shows.
‘I can’t wait to get to know the many listeners of Woman’s Hour a lot, lot better,’ she said. ‘What adventures we are going to have together – all starting in the year that this BBC institution, the radio mothership, turns 75.
‘I have a long love of Woman’s Hour and live radio and know that this is a very special and rare opportunity.’
Miss Barnett, who also hosts Newsnight, co-presented Woman’s Hour during the 2017 and 2019 general elections. She will leave her 5 Live show at the end of the year but will continue in her role at Newsnight.
Miss Garvey, who will host her own interview series on Radio 4 next year, welcomed Miss Barnett’s appointment. She wrote on Twitter: ‘The mighty Woman’s Hour marches on.’ Dame Jenni’s final programme will be broadcast on October 1, with guest presenters filling in until January.
Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya said: ‘I am delighted that Emma is joining Woman’s Hour. She brings a terrific combination of intellectual inquiry, robust journalism and curiosity about the human condition.
‘I can’t think of anyone better to carry on the important job of identifying and exploring the issues that matter most to women.’
Woman’s Hour’s live listening figures are around 3.5million a week but increasingly it is listened to on BBC Sounds, with millions of downloads.
The show has developed a reputation for outspoken views around feminism. In 2014, Feedback presenter Roger Bolton said: ‘As you well know BBC programmes are supposed to be impartial but I’m not sure if that can be said of Woman’s Hour, at least when it comes to feminism.’
He said the programme was ‘a powerful advocate for women’s empowerment’.
The BBC ordered staff on Woman’s Hour take impartiality training in 2018 after Miss Garvey gave ‘the impression of sympathising’ with a guest she was interviewing who believed US judge Brett Kavanaugh was guilty of sexual assault. He denied the allegation and his post was confirmed by the Senate.