I heard the BBC Radio 4 Toady programme's interview with Ed 'second choice' Balls yesterday morning. What a sycophantic interview by James "If we win the election" Naughtie. Interviews by Naughtie and Humphrys with Conservative ministers are full of interruptions to break the interviewee's train of thought and aggressive questions.This interview was far more genial. There were some tough questions but these were put almost apologetically, in the spirit of 'I hope you know that I have to ask this question but don't worry I won't pursue the matter, whatever you respond.'
The general tone of the interview was very matey, talk of football and gentle ribbing; in the way that friends or workmates do. I doubt that George Osborne will be similarly treated as one of the gang next week.
I do hope that (Beed Biased) Craig was listening to the interview and will be comparing it with the one that George Osborne will be subjected to next week. I expect the interruption coefficients to be very different.
The general tone of the interview was very matey, talk of football and gentle ribbing; in the way that friends or workmates do. I doubt that George Osborne will be similarly treated as one of the gang next week.
I do hope that (Beed Biased) Craig was listening to the interview and will be comparing it with the one that George Osborne will be subjected to next week. I expect the interruption coefficients to be very different.
One big difference - the Tories are in government and anyone in power is always held to account more robustly due to the simple fact they are making the key decisions. The Beeb did do the same to Labour when they were in. What he should be giving Ed a verbal lashing about is the fact Labour won't be straight about what they would be doing now if they were in power, and why their 'policy review' is taking so long. Ho hum! (hope this good-spirited comment is fit for publication)
ReplyDelete'The Beeb did do the same to Labour when they were in.' No they most certainly did not. Check out Beeb Bias Craig's blog for some facts and figures.
ReplyDeleteI will check it out. However having listened to Today and watched a lot of Newsnight, Question Time, Daily Politics (on Iplayer...) and This Week I've seen Labour men and women get their fair share over the years. Honestly, BBC ain't perfect but it's not as clear cut as you make out. At its heart the BBC is basically pro-establishment - look how they swoon over the royals. Better targets for ire there surely are.
ReplyDeleteI think the BBC moved away from being pro-'establishment' a while ago. The royalty angle is the one vestige that they feel corporately unable to lose, although they do try and be edgy in some areas to compensate for the straight news reporting. I honestly don't think that the way the BBC treat left of centre figures is comparable with the way they treat right of centre ones. The tone is very, very different.
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