The recent expansion in the range of its guests has helped a lot. It's no longer always the same old crowd of lefties, plus (every few weeks) Janet Daley.
Today's panel largely consisted of newer voices, with only Stryker McGuire being a Dateline veteran:
Today's panel largely consisted of newer voices, with only Stryker McGuire being a Dateline veteran:
Dmitri Linnik, Voice of RussiaLilit Gevorgyan, writer and broadcasterAlex Deane, Conservative HomeStryker McGuire, Bloomberg Markets
Even though the names of the organisations two of them work for - Voice of Russia and Conservative Home - kind-of tells you where at least two of the guests are likely to be coming from, the range of views was wide enough to allow for an interesting clash of opinions. The subjects up for discussion were Russia, Greece and the British election.
I particularly appreciated the discussion over Russia.
Dmitri Linnik attempted to play the 'Well, the U.S. did exactly the same during the Arab Spring' card when confronted with the charge that Russian soldiers disguised as Russian-speaking rebels or independents appear to be active in eastern Ukraine. Alex replied that even if that was true, two wrongs don't make a right and if DL's argument won't hold up in his mum's kitchen then it won't hold up in the Dateline studio either!
Dmitri Linnik attempted to play the 'Well, the U.S. did exactly the same during the Arab Spring' card when confronted with the charge that Russian soldiers disguised as Russian-speaking rebels or independents appear to be active in eastern Ukraine. Alex replied that even if that was true, two wrongs don't make a right and if DL's argument won't hold up in his mum's kitchen then it won't hold up in the Dateline studio either!
I was also intrigued that Lilit, originally from Armenia, was so dismissive of Mr Fallon's concerns about Russia's intentions towards the Baltic States. Looking her up online, it turns out that she used to advise the former president of Armenia, and Armenian presidents tend to be pro-Russian.
I don't think that there is too much bias overall but I do think that if there is someone who is bound to be a strong advocate of a point of view like a spokesman for Voice of Russia, they should be balanced by someone with equal and opposite force.
ReplyDeleteAll too often I have seen guests like that say things that I strongly disagree with and would like to refute but no one on the panel does.