Yesterday I promised to respond to your points here, but this morning things seem to have moved on, what with Donald Trump’s LBC debut
and that young fellow’s sparky contribution to last night’s QT.
“Bring on a general election. I hope Boris gets a majority, delivers Brexit and defeats a Marxist Jeremy Corbyn government”, says this #bbcqt audience member. pic.twitter.com/1XQS42KYVC— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) October 31, 2019
No matter how much we strive to be less of a ‘hate-site’ and more of a platform for legitimate criticism, the BBC gets worse, not better. Naturally, we feel discouraged by our own impotence. I can’t speak for Craig here, but recently I have detected a stagnant air about this place. I found the dwindling number of below-the-line contributors disheartening.
The page-views are still buoyant, but if you’re merely lurking, why not join in?
Perhaps the comments facility is a deterrent - it’s not at all user-friendly - but people complain about Disqus as well. To those of you who have stuck with us - your loyalty and thoughtful contributions are much appreciated.
These (we call them introspective) posts come across as ‘fishing for compliments’, which isn’t exactly what I’m fishing for at all. I’m fishing for engagement and debate. To liven things up.
(This is today. I might feel different tomorrow.)
(This is today. I might feel different tomorrow.)
Once upon a time, the BBC considered the sincere criticism they found on the Biased-BBC blog worth engaging with and refuting. But when the site was reinvigorated (taken ’downmarket’) some of the petty and factually questionable comments that popped up discredited the whole enterprise and let the BBC off the hook, so to speak. They took the easy option and dismissed the whole thing as ‘hate’. In a way are collateral damage. But we knew that when we started this.
I thought the idea of ‘handing it over’ was slightly absurdist. I mean, what’s to hand over? It’s a free blog, run on goodwill and gratis. Nothing to stop anyone setting up one of their own. I suppose the domain name could be transferred. D’you think it has commercial value? Any offers? (Only joking)
All nine of your questions are up for discussion as and when you like. Open debate is exactly what this site is (wishes it was) about. So, how can we encourage it any more than we do already? Genuine question.
Bear in mind that self-publicity is not our strong point. We’re hard-wired against it. This is what Douglas Murray calls a 'hardware' rather than a software issue - it’s genetic, inborn; nature rather than nurture.
Battle-weary is a good diagnosis. The general election might reignite some passion - but as I’m more of a long-form merchant, the appropriate brevity is hard to master and I don’t know if there’s any future in churning out posts that end up “tl;dr”. (I do try.)
