Catching up...
[...and, many apologies, I'm miles behind at the moment and Sue is still on holiday. Wonder if she's bumped into the BBC's Jenny Hill down there, doing her thing about those pesky populists?]...
I've not listened yet beyond the introductory minute or so to Thursday night's Newsnight (so this is live but belated blogging!)....
Alongside the taster clips from controversial Newsnight main presenter Evan Davis's interview with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, we got controversial Evan's framing commentary for that interview:
Tonight we hear from Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He may only be the the prime minister of a small country, but on him rest important decisions about war with Iran, and peace in the Middle East, not to mention the lives of Palestinian protestors in Gaza.
But, in reality, Evan didn't actually confine himself to saying just that. There was an extra word in that Newsnight introduction which I deliberately kept out from the transcript above.
What word? Well, please see for yourself from the full, non-redacted transcript:
Tonight we hear from Israel's controversial Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He may only be the the prime minister of a small country, but on him rest important decisions about war with Iran, and peace in the Middle East, not to mention the lives of Palestinian protestors in Gaza.
Yes, in the real version (the second version) Evan used the c-word.
Why add it? Was it really necessary? Didn't my 'redacted' version (the fake one without the 'controversial' word) make just as much sense?
Why add it? Was it really necessary? Didn't my 'redacted' version (the fake one without the 'controversial' word) make just as much sense?
By adding the word 'controversial' Newsnight was evidently signalling that the present Israeli PM is someone they feel the need to distance themselves from with a barge pole of no small length.
Maybe they're right to do so, maybe they're wrong to do so, but, still, this was an editorialising stroke by Newsnight.
Such things matter, even if they're on a programme that reaches only a tiny fraction of the UK population.
Such things matter, even if they're on a programme that reaches only a tiny fraction of the UK population.
