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| Not a fan of the patriarchy |
Last night's Newsnight made the decision to frame the controversy over the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, along with the recent testimonies of Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser Professor Christine Blasey Ford, as being about the success - or otherwise - of the #MeToo movement.
As well as interviewing Ana Maria Archila, the left-leaning activist who confronted a Republican senator in a lift yesterday, the programme interviewed three very similar-minded women (albeit with wildly different tones of voice) - Emily Birnbaum from The Hill, writer Mona Eltahawy, and author Sadie Doyle.
The whole thing sounded like what I imagine a Guardian editorial meeting to sound like (with added Americans).
Accept for a couple of 'devil's advocate questions' from Emily Maitlis, Newsnight's own narrative echoed that of its four guests, for example:
But for many, there have been inescapable echoes this week of an almost identical situation 27 years ago. In 1991 Anita Hill made claims of sexual abuse at the hands of Clarence Thomas - a prospective Supreme Court judge who was nevertheless confirmed. She faced an all male, all white panel - who chose to humiliate her testimony. So that perennial question - what if anything has changed?
And after all four guests had piled in on Judge Kavanaugh and in support of his accusers, Emily brought the section to a close by saying, in a somewhat tagged-on way:
Thank you all very much indeed. We should add that Brett Kavanaugh, of course, denies the allegations against him. We really appreciate your time here on Newsnight.
Hmm, especially if Judge Kavanaugh is innocent (and he's not been found guilty of anything yet), this certainly wasn't very fair broadcasting. Would it have harmed to to have included someone who took a different view?
P.S. You'd hope the presumption of innocence was still a commonly-believed thing, but please watch today's Dateline London and see what happens when Alex Deane tries to argue for it in this case. He finds himself on his own.
P.S. You'd hope the presumption of innocence was still a commonly-believed thing, but please watch today's Dateline London and see what happens when Alex Deane tries to argue for it in this case. He finds himself on his own.
