[safe_timber_man]

I'm disappointed in James O’Brien, to be honest. I'm not expecting him to throw his career away in protest and there's possibly some NDA's at play(?) but today he very clearly implied she's gone because of her listening figures. That just does not stack up and I can't help but think he's trying to gaslight his audience. It all seems very out of character. If you can't talk about it, fine, but don't do that, James. Can't quite work out what he meant when talking about respecting her right to not talk about it - from what I know about her, she absolutely would not choose to stay silent on this, especially considering the support she's getting.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I don't get it, either.

But it's good to see you back!

[safe_timber_man]

Good to see you too, mate. Still around - just going through it at the moment but there's light at the end of the tunnel! Very much looking forward to spending General Election night on Mailwatch - it's going to be our Super Bowl!

[Yug]

Very much looking forward to spending General Election night on Mailwatch - it's going to be our Super Bowl!

Nah mate. It'll be much more entertaining than that.

Hello. Nice to see you.

[Oboogie]

According to LBC, Sangita's ratings have been falling although with nothing to compare it to, this means little to me.

[The Weeping Angel]

Nice to see you Safe Timber Man

[Oboogie]

Welcome back Safe Timber

[kreuzberger]

Welcome back Safe Timber

Agreed!

OT, I remember LBC binning the execrable Maajid Nawaz for Covid denial and/or dangerous antivax moon-howling - also an editorial rather than ranting-influenced measure.

[Samanfur]

Welcome back, Mr. Man!

[Watchman]

Good to see you again Mr STM

[Abernathy]

From the Mandrake column in this week’s New European :

Just before Christmas, LBC was celebrating Sangita Myska being named radio presenter of the year in the prestigious Asian Media Awards. The judges praised her for “reaching out to people of all backgrounds and cultures, helping to tackle misconceptions and ignorance on all sides… and bringing a balanced perspective to discussions.”

The popular presenter’s career at the station came to an abrupt end earlier this month after what had seemed a brief and relatively unremarkable exchange, on her final weekend show, with the Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman. She put to him that Iran had stated that its drone attack on Israel had been a “retaliatory strike” after Israel had hit its consulate in Syria. Hyman responded that it was “an outrageous framing of the reality”, claiming that Iran’s property had not been recognised as a diplomatic mission. It had been extensively reported that it was and Sir Richard Dalton, a former British diplomat in Iran who had been on Myska’s show earlier, had not disputed that it was.

A fellow presenter at LBC tells me on condition of anonymity: “There is shock about what has happened, and the assumption is it was a consequence of the Hyman interview, and, if that is the case, then who is going to be next? Colleagues like James O’Brien have been much more critical of Israel over Gaza. Sangita had built up a real rapport with her listeners and was one of the few we have with an impeccable broadcasting pedigree, after 20 years at the BBC.”

Myska was pulling in an average of 500,000 listeners for her afternoon shows on Saturday and Sunday – up 34.4% since she took over the slots in September 2022 – and a Change.org petition calling for LBC to reinstate her has reached 20,000 signatures. Politicians such as John McDonnell, Dawn Butler and Meral Hussein-Ece have expressed dismay at her disappearance.

The hapless Ali Miraj, a former Tory activist with no journalistic background, was brought in to stand in for Myska, only to be bombarded with questions from listeners asking where she was. Two who managed to get on air to actually ask the question were hastily cut off.

LBC is owned by Global Media, where the founder and executive president is Ashley Tabor-King, who picked up a CBE in the New Year’s Honours.

[safe_timber_man]

The Presenters getting pissy at their listeners really isn't doing them any favours, either...

Screenshot 2024-05-03 210255.png (37.83 KiB) Viewed 107 times

[davidjay]

Welcome back Safe Timber

Agreed!

OT, I remember LBC binning the execrable Maajid Nawaz for Covid denial and/or dangerous antivax moon-howling - also an editorial rather than ranting-influenced measure.

The difference was that he'd been going increasingly off his head for a long while.