Monday 27 February 2017

Is Newsnight doomed?


According to Andrew Pierce in the Daily Mail, James Harding has asked for ideas for an alternative to Newsnight, suggesting that the show might be scrapped - or at least moved or given a different main presenter. 
This is hardly a surprise — the bells have been tolling for the now-dreary programme for some time. These days, many Cabinet ministers refuse invitations to appear, leading to tension between the production team and Downing Street.
Getting rid of James O'Brien would be my suggestion for a good first move.

22 comments:

  1. I can't see much hope for the programme or its successor for that matter.

    Personally, I think they need to:

    1. Give up on slavishly following the Guardian news agenda. Be less politically correct.

    2. Drop the confrontational interview style. It just appears like bad manners and rarely sheds much light on anything.

    3. In an age of 24/7 news more in-depth analysis would play to the programme's strengths.

    4. Return to a broader cultural theme. I think in the past they have had cultural segments. That should be revived so it is not all news with the occasional bit of music tacked on. There should also be a science and tech section.

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    1. 1 & 3 should do it. #2 will automatically follow initiating #1, as that would require getting rid of Katz and O'Brien. I notice the Mail article knocks Evan Davis (albeit not on his real problems) but oddly doesn't mention O'Brien. So you have to suspect that Harding is looking for a different editorial direction rather than a change in interview style.

      But those death knells have been tolling since the McAlpine fiasco, so don't hold your breath.

      Delete
  2. So, apart from its history, reputation, editor, presenters, research standards, topic obsessions, selective quoting, predictability and JO'bsworth grandstanding... it is doing ok?

    Lucky it has unique 'can't for the life of me understand why it exists' support.

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  3. Hope so, it's an absolute bore fest.

    Do wonder though, what being "less politically correct" means exactly?

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    Replies
    1. It means being less wedded to the principles of political correctness which include the multiculturalist dogma that all cultures are of equal value and merit, the political article of faith that all immigration is good and the extreme feminist ideology (the idea that women and men have in all respects equal capabilities and interests and that all outcomes must reflect this equality).

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    2. Oh right, so a bit more Muslim-bashing, denigrate immigrants as second-class and possibly verminous. Plus what's wrong with a bit of casual sexism, and generally the Daily Mail is on the right track - that sort of thing?

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    3. Well clearly I didn't say anything like that but since you mentioned the Mail, it is read by something like 50 million people globally, online and in print. It has a good record of bringing the murderers of Stephen Lawrence to justice and also opposing torture at Guantanamo Bay. It isn't the inhouse journal of fascism that the BBC portrays.

      If you believe Sharia law is a positive influence on the planet, then just come out and say it.

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    4. Sorry dude, you've lost me now. I wouldn't go so far as to call the Mail an "inhouse journal of fascism" but it is unadulterated trash for the most part. The online edition is an inglorious melange of click-bait quasi-porn and celebrity tit-tat. The volume of readers doesn't change that.

      "If you believe Sharia law is a positive influence on the planet, then just come out and say it."

      Really, you're going there? In my World it's possible to believe that neither Muslim-bashing or Sharia Law are positives.

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    5. Personally I couldn't care less what race, religion or inside leg measurement somebody is.

      But questions should be asked about immigration and our population increase of 10 million in 10 years. Connections should be drawn to the infrastructure, housing and NHS crisis's without solely just following the Guardian line that it's all the Tories spending cuts fault.

      Also questions should be asked of any religion that fails to modernise and change to fit societies norms.

      Both seem to be taboo subjects i.e. not politically correct. That kind of thing.

      Delete
  4. Ta for the invite.

    Sadly a schedule clash with reality based on this Planet.

    Plus marching against walls sounds painful.

    And, sorry to nitpick 'n all, but what has this to do with BBC, is it biased, or Newsnight?

    Asking for an anonanononymous fellow poster.

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  5. Wouldn't that count as European Nationalism? Marching for a united Europe? All sounds dangerously far right to me.

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  6. AnonAnon - It seems to me you are doing the Muslim bashing now by saying the thing they hold most dear in this world - Sharia law - is not a positive influence on the planet. You are challenging their most fundamental beliefs, the very core of their identity.

    As for the Mail, I mention its readership/audience because I don't think you understand the principle of free speech: that you have to be prepared to allow other people to express their opinions, even if you may find those opinions offensive.

    Clockworkorange is quite right about the effects of political correctness on the BBC's news and current affairs. You end with the grotesque spectacle of Newsnight devoting a whole special edition to the housing crisis and NOT ONCE mentioning population increase or mass immigration! That is PC in action and it means the truth is being censored.

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  7. "AnonAnon - It seems to me you are doing the Muslim bashing now by saying the thing they hold most dear in this world - Sharia law - is not a positive influence on the planet. You are challenging their most fundamental beliefs, the very core of their identity."

    How am I supposed to respond to this utterly childish supposition?

    "As for the Mail, I mention its readership/audience because I don't think you understand the principle of free speech: that you have to be prepared to allow other people to express their opinions, even if you may find those opinions offensive. "

    I don't understand free speech now, how on Earth do you come to that conclusion? Free speech surely means I can find the Daily Mail to be the "unadulterated trash" I believe it is.

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    1. I note you decline the opportunity to make clear your views on Sharia and those who promote Sharia. Either you do this from a platform of knowledge or ignorance.

      I happen to think the Guardian is mostly unadulterated trash. So why as a licence fee payer should I have to see the BBC adopt an almost exclusively Guardian-based news agenda as opposed to a Telegraph or Daily Mail one? That is the point. Just because you don't like the Mail, doesn't mean its news agenda should be ignored by the BBC which gets several billion quid a year from us on the basis it is supposed to be impartial.

      The Guardian BTW is full of trashy nonsense:

      https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2017/feb/28/have-a-word-10-best-slogan-tops-for-men-in-pictures

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    2. Hate to burst your bubble but I don't read The Guardian. Slate it to your hearts content, slate anything you like, I couldn't care less. I'm not getting drawn in to a debate re: your Sharia Law pet topic, there are sites aplenty (which I'm sure you're familiar with) where you can adopt your prophet-of-doom tone on these lines.

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    3. Well if you don't want to engage in debate perhaps you shouldn't suggest people concerned about the stifling effect of political correctness on free speech in this country are out to "bash" Muslims, or denigrate immigrants as second-class and possibly verminous - to remind you of your original words.

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    4. Oh, the consequences of not adhering to the opinions of someone so gravely "concerned about the stifling effect of political correctness on free speech in this country"...oh irony.

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    5. There's no irony. I support your right to free speech - it's just you seem to have an ambivalent attitude to the free speech rights of others, such as those who think political correctness, mass immigration and the spread of Sharia are disastrous policies.

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    6. "you seem to have an ambivalent attitude to the free speech rights of others"

      You are exercising your "free speech rights" right now, to the extent you're getting to tell me - someone you don't know - what I apparently think and believe. Let's leave it here.

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    7. Unfortunately making assumptions about people is often the nature of internet blogs and forums. Somebody interprets somebody else’s post in a way that they don’t like or makes what seems to them to be the logical extension of what they believe the other’s position to be, and suddenly they are making an assumption. It would seem to me in this particular exchange you have both made assumptions about each other.

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    8. Has rather successfully got things off track.

      There's a name for that, IIRC.

      Looks like ITTB has registered.

      Delete

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