Julia Somerville

[bibblebub]

She's now on BBC News and they taken her on to boost their number of older newsreaders, particularly women, but she's past it, don't you think? She
stumbles on words, struggles to find the words to complete her sentences, she's just quite poor at the job.

There is no reason why a newsreader shouldn't carry on doing that job whatever their age but she clearly isn't up to it any more and should quietly be let go.

Anyone have any opinion on her performance?

[janbee]

I agree Bibblebub. I always liked Julia but I feel she was brought back just to satisfy the gripes about lack of older newsreaders. Since she returned to the screens, she doesn't seem at all at ease and as you say, she stumbles over her words all the time. Having said that, she's not the only one. Nicholas Owen and Matthew Amroliwala (he of the constantly flutting eyelashes) are also really really bad. Age should have nothing to do with competence for the job but in this case, poor Julia doesn't seem at all happy in front of the cameras. Maybe she's been away too long. Still think Moira Stewart is great though.

[bibblebub]

Yes, Nicholas Owen does usually seem a bit out of his depth with the format but that Matthew Amroliwala always strikes me as a bit spooky, he's all too buttoned-up and gives me the impression that he's likely to be responsible for a massacre sometime in the future.