Julia Somerville

According to The Mirror's 3am column, Julia Somerville, dismayed at being shunted from the main ITN Bulletins to a talkshow on LBC has resigned from ITN. What a tragic waste IMHO. They should never have replaced with Kirsty Young and their big mistake was not taking her back when Young resigned and now they've lost one of the most respected and authoritative newsreaders on British TV. IMHO it serves ITV right but she should go back however she hasn't. Good luck to her she deserves so much better than how she was treated.

I really hope she gets a high profile job on the BBC or something, she is a great presenter. She was excellent on election night on the ITN News Channel.

Although it's still ITN, I think she'd be great on Channel 5. She is one of the more 'modern' presenters for want of a better word, in that she is accessible and friendly, very much like Kirsty Young.

Ah well, good luck to her anyway.

Poor thing. I wonder what ITN's reasons for dropping her were, surely can't be the fact that she's not under 35, and has looks that most women would die for, could it?

Best new presenter to appear recently is Paula Middlehurst, on Sky. She's been promoted to the Sunrise slot now.

But let's face it, broadcasters now care more about looks than talent, yes they'll deny it but to the average person with at least half a brain it's pretty obvious. Mary Nightingale has been really impressive, though. IMO she's so much better than Kirsty Young. Actually though, if you think about the first true female news presenter - Barbara Walters on NBC's 'Today' programme - then looks have always mattered. The original 'Today Girls' were only there to look good, nobody really cared about the news and reports they read out on air. Walter's biography was on the... Biography Channel, today. Makes for interesting viewing.




(Edited by c@t at 6:52 pm on Oct. 24, 2001)

Ok, so as ITV News dispose of their older presenters in favour of more younger eye candy, then surely it's time they had a similar policy for the male newscasters.

I reckon that Dermot is probably the only one who doesn't sleep with with his teeth next to him in a glass. Do ITV prefer the older man ? ITV News need some younger male talent coming through. Dermot is likely to take Trevor's crown when he disappears, now that Kirsty Young is out of the equation. But where is the fresh talent in the wings ?

Oh and I agree c@t, Mary is just excellent.

Mark Austin is quite young. Other than that, though... erm...

Surely 30 or so year old women are ITV News' main audience? That's the impression I get anyway. I reckon Martin Popplewell will make it to ITV News before long.