"BBC WORLD"

I am trying to figure out after several years of watching BBC World, if there is actually any method in their madness of having what appears to be a core of presenters, but who continually disappear for weeks at a time!!

For example, where are Nisha Pillai, Keshini Navaratnam and Zeinab Badawi right now? Also, Gwennan Edwards has gone (it seems).

We have a flurry of activity from Lyse these days, but sure enough she will disappear again soon for weeks on end.

Lynsey Brancher appears to only do two days a week. David Jessel appears from time to time, and excellent broadcasters Anita MacNaught and Adrian Finighan are significantly under used!

David Eades seems to be a strange choice to head-up the flagship "The World Today" bulletin...................................

Tanya Beckett looks lonely in New York and what ever happened to John Terrett?

Maybe there is a grand plan to keep us amused with ever changing faces on set.

I miss Nisha and Keshini though...........come back soon!![B]

They could be away for a variety of reasons:
1. making a special programme overseas
2. on holiday (!)
3. filling in for a correspondent who is themself away. Remember that most of these are not mere presenters/announcers, but Broadcast Journalists , many of whom enjoy newsgathering in the field as well as being confined to the mean streets of London W12
4. on a sabbatical: many have outside interests including consultancy work, guest lecturing, public speaking commitments, and even academic scholarships: Nik Gowing has written some leading papers at Harvard on news media (see his biog at www.bbcworld.com)

It's no mean feat presenting, but many hacks regard the true skill in digging out the stories in the first place, and reporting from the field. Many broadcasters are excellent at both (take Ms Doucet for example; she spent most of the Gulf war in Jordan).

Gwennen Edwards seems to be on News 24 quite a bit.

To my knowledge Gwenan has not presented on BBC World -or has she????

It's also Holiday time for many. Lucy Hockings has been doing more than her normal weekends, but I agree its odd that Anita isnt used more, I quite like her.

It's a shame that BBC World do this. They seem to have a core of presenters who hog the schedules, and then use others as fill-ins all over the place. As I said in another thread, variety is the spice of life, and it would certainly be better to have more regular presenters on World.

As noted in my original post, I have been watching World for years. I think its an excellent news service, and miles ahead of CNN. But the inconsistencies that occur seem a bit odd and I just cant fathom it out.

Yes, variety IS the spice of life, but the only three regular presenters who now seem to "hog" the presenters chair are Nik, Martine and Mike (Embley). The other former regulars just don't seem to be there often enough for my liking - thinking again of Nisha, Keshini and Anita.

Does anyone remember the excellent late 90's on World, when we had the likes of Linette Tye, Carla Garapedian, Nici Marx, Peter Dobbie, Peter Coe, Philip Hayton, Teymoor Nabili and Donald MacCormack presenting?

I know that some of them have graduated onto N24 and other BBC Services, but many of them have just disappeared without trace.

Stephen Cole used to present the Daily Newshour Asia & Pacific, which as I was living in India at the time, was excellent daily staple stuff.

The Real "The World Today", with Donald and Nici was an excellent daily digest of news. When Donald and Nici were away, Lindsey Brancher or Valerie Sanderson along with Peters Coe and Dobbie used to present.

Where are they all now? Vanished without trace.

It's still re-assuring to see Alistair Yates overnight. Wish he would replace Nik Gowing, whom I find quite hard to digest so often. He is NEVER away.

Alas..........

The last correspondent mentions Messrs Coe, Dobbie and others who moved from World to N24. I would definitely class this as a sideways move rather than a promotion: World has far superior viewing figures, and is not having to include domestic (relative) trivia. And you don't have to co-present: the glory is all yours.

I wonder how the broadcast journalists themselves compare the two networks. Is one regarded as more prestigious than the other within the News Centre, can anyone say?

Yes indeed. World is just sheer different class than N24. My point was that some of the presenters who "graduated" or moved to N24 were also excellent on World (Coe, Dobbie, Hayton).

Where are Coe, Sanderson, Nabili, Marx though? They were all very good.

Linette Tye recently did the Biz News live from Singapore, but she has also disappeared again.

Peter Coe has left the BBC, Valerie Sanderson was set for BBC World Service after she left N24, although I don't know if she made it. Nici Marx moved to CNN (or possibly Sky), IIRC. Although, I haven't seen her for some time now.

Nici Marx can occasionally be heard reading the news on LBC 97.3 in London.

I think David Eades is excellent on 'The World Today' him and Sally Bundock have great on screen chemisty and the programmes mix of world news, sports and business is consistant and well produced.

Has David Eades ever presented on News24? I've noticed that unlike other presenters, he actually tells people what will be on both World and 'Domestic' at 6am. A minor point, but it's strange no-one else does it.

I have to say, The World Today and "BBC News from BBC World" which follows it is certainly a better service than the other BBC World bulletins. Perhaps it's the fact that most bulletins are presented by one person which just doesn't really keep me interested.