After nearly two years, talk radio broadcaster Sangita Myska of LBC is quitting her programme.
Vanessa Feltz has been brought in to present a new show on Saturdays.
After a contentious discussion over Iran's recent drone and missile strikes on Israel on April 15, Myska had been off the air. LBC had not addressed her absence until the Feltz announcement on May 1.
LBC’s senior managing editor Tom Cheal said: "We’d like to thank Sangita for her fantastic contribution to LBC and we wish her every success in the future."
According to LBC, Vanessa Feltz will debut a new show on Saturday from 3pm to 6pm as part of a "refreshed weekend schedule". However, Feltz is not a direct replacement for Myska because she is hosting a programme in a different timeslot.
Myska has been replaced by Ali Miraj in recent weeks.Following a successful time guest hosting on LBC, the broadcaster also stated that Ali Miraj, a former Conservative party parliamentary candidate and commentator, will have two weekend shows.
But who is Sangita Myska and why is she leaving LBC?
Who is Sangita Myska?
Myska is an award-winning podcast, radio and TV presenter who kicked off her career with the BBC under their trainee reporter scheme.
In 2008, she was involved with an undercover investigation into child trafficking in Bulgaria, which is credited with influencing the establishment of UN Gift (United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking).
She left the BBC for LBC in 2022, where she began hosting a weekend phone-in show for LBC Radio, broadcasting between 1pm and 4pm.
Myska is also a regular panellist on other high-profile shows including Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 and ITV’s Lorraine, and was this year named radio presenter of the year in the prestigious Asian Media Awards.In addition to winning the British Podcast Awards' best current affairs category in 2019 for her reporting on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast, she was named current affairs presenter of the year at the 2023 ACTA Awards.
Additionally, her show has been successful for LBC, with an average of 500,000 viewers for her Saturday and Sunday afternoon shows, which is an increase of 34.4 per cent since she assumed the slots in September 2022.
Why is Sangita Myska leaving LBC?
Many are speculating Myska’s departure has to do with the exchange with Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman.
The day following an aerial assault in which more than 300 Iranian drones and missiles were fired into Israel, Myska questioned Hyman about the possible reasons behind the start of hostilities, which marked the first instance of direct conflict between the two adversarial nations.
Myska enquired as to whether the incident was a "retaliatory strike" following Israel's April 1 attack on Iran's consulate complex in Damascus, Syria.
Myska said that “consulates and embassies are sovereign territories of the governments concerned”, and that “what Israel did by taking that action against Iran was to escalate what is already an incredibly fragile situation”.
She also said: “What Israel did was strike what is considered – in diplomatic circles – the sovereign territory of Iran, whether we like it or not.
“And there was undoubtedly going to be a blowback.”
She asked Hyman: “So did Israel game out what was going to happen next?”
Throughout the process of questioning, Hyman shook his head and argued that the assertion was "an outrageous framing of the reality" and that the embassy was actually "an al Quds military base being used by forces of the Iranian regime" rather than a diplomatic mission, “they were bent on Israel’s destruction”.
He also said that Myska had been "copying and pasting" an Iranian statement and that media throughout the world were merely parroting what the regime wanted them to say.
She countered by saying, “you know what the ICJ [International Court of Justice] ruling is, that there is a plausible case of genocide to answer”.
Hyman counters with, “we have not transgressed any international law”, with Myska replying, “I didn’t say you have”.
Her absence from the airwaves led to an outpouring of support, and almost 25,000 people signed a petition, calling for LBC to reinstate her.
The station has kept a clip of the interview online. However, parent company Global has not referenced it and said the line-up changes were "part of a refreshed weekend schedule".
LBC's senior managing editor Tom Cheal said: "We'd like to thank Sangita for her fantastic contribution to LBC and wish her every success in the future."
