The ‘critics’ versus the public…

Listeners sail to the rescue of Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs. [Indy]

“…despite the media hoo-hah surrounding her appointment, Young has managed to gain approval from the one group that really matters: Desert Island Discs’ loyal band of listeners. Sources at the BBC say audience figures for her opening five programmes – which have featured interviews with the actress Jane Horrocks, and The Independent’s Robert Fisk – have far outstripped those achieved in the final days of Sue Lawley’s reign.

Calls and e-mails to the BBC’s “audience line”, in which viewers and listeners can pass comment on programming, have endorsed Young’s style of interviewing by a majority of roughly two to one.

The piece quotes a tabloid article describing Young as “ruthless, disloyal, and chillingly ambitious.” Now you don’t learn everything about a person by sitting alongside them in a newsroom, but I think I saw enough to say that she brilliantly conceals these reptilian traits under a cloak of decency, kindness and good humour.

Not that my opinion is worth any more than anyone else’s (see Hobbes), but I thought she was perfect for the role, and hearing her only confirms me in my prejudice.

Looks like the listeners agree, and the radio critics and reviewers didn’t really know what they were talking about. Quelle surprise!