Barnett 'thrilled' as she joins Radio 4's Today

Broadcaster Emma Barnett said she was "thrilled" to be presenting her first edition of Radio 4's Today programme, as she joined co-host Amol Rajan on Wednesday.

Barnett greeted listeners on the news programme by saying: "Good morning, what a pleasure to be here."

The 39-year-old replaces Martha Kearney, who announced in February she was standing down from the show.

However, Kearney will not leave until after the general election, which means the two presenters will both appear on air over the coming months.

For her first interview in the 08:10 slot, seen as the show's most prestigious, Barnett spoke to policing minister Chris Philp.

She also interviewed James Coates, son of Ian Coates, the school caretaker killed in Nottingham last year, and ended the show with a discussion about music playlists.

The Guardian's Mark Lawson said Barnett sounded somewhat more chatty and informal than some previous presenters of Today, commenting that "while she has left 5 Live and Woman’s Hour, they audibly haven’t left her".

"Her bright style meshed with Rajan, who is increasingly introducing a note of editorial bonhomie," he said.

Barnett and Rajan were seen hugging in the studio as she made her debut.

Lawson noted the "relaxed tone" of Barnett's first programme "was partly due... to an unusually slow news day".

The programme's other regular presenters are Justin Webb, Mishal Husain and Nick Robinson.

In another four-star review of the programme, the Telegraph's Chris Bennion said: "Her tone reassuring, her interviews pure silk and steel, Barnett’s first early shift bodes well for the future – unless you’re a politician.

"She handled the peaks and troughs of the three-hour stint well," he continued, "even if it did take an hour or so for that 3am-start croak to leave her voice (can a voice sound bleary-eyed?)"

Barnett referred to Today as “this esteemed programme”, he noted, "showing perhaps that, for the first time, she considers the show she is presenting to be bigger than her.

"It is no slight to say that her work at 5 Live and on Woman’s Hour felt like stepping stones to somewhere else."

The Daily Mail suggested listeners were divided over her arrival, noting that, while most welcomed her on the airwaves, some felt her treatment of a story about a sex education policy was too strong for breakfast radio.

The programme ended with a discussion about music playlists, prompted by Barnett's comment that she used songs such as Gimme More by Britney Spears, Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin and Cold as Ice by MOP to help her prepare for her new role.

That item did not please everyone, however, with Bennion writing: "The excruciating – surely emergency filler – final segment on music playlists, with Edith Bowman and Jeffrey Boakye, was a stain on an otherwise solid debut.

"'What does music mean to you?' she asked Bowman, mystifyingly. Barnett is better than that sort of guff – something she had proved over the past three hours."

Posting on social media after coming off air, Barnett said: "I've just finished presenting the Today programme for the first time, so that's what that feels like!

"Thank you so much if you were a part of it, one of our guests or a listener."