Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Watchman wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 1:40 pm Bastards at the BBC, giving Jimmy Saville a knighthood

I'm surprised no-one has uttered that yet.

Can someone make this allegation the BBC's fault too, as it's open season?


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57217600

Ready to be tasted, eh?

Unfortunate... but amusing.

Andrew Marr hints at BBC exit due to frustration with impartiality

I don't really get why he is implying it's unfair he can't speak his mind. It's his job to be impartial. It's like a Radio 3 presenter moaning that they can't blast out a bit of Megadeath or Cradle of Filth occasionally. If you don't like what you have been asked to do then leave.

Not Marr's style.

An unlikely edgelord, but all the same...

If what we've seen so far is him being impartial, I dread to think what he's like when he's not trying.

I find him a bit "tabloidy" dramatic at times in his utterances. There's certainly a gap in the TV presenter market for a skilled political interviewer. Paxman fell for his own hype and it became all about him. I can't stand Morgan but he does have the raw tools there,; his problem is he plays to the gallery, talks over political interviewees and the talk afterwards is invariably always about Morgan, rather than the interviewee. There is a skilled balancing act required, you're in danger of not getting anyone to go agree to an interview if you show them up. You don't want a soft interviewer either. I want to see an interviewer, like a mild mannered unassuming highly skilled QC cross examining a lying witness, give bullshitters enough rope to hang themselves by their own words, rather than brow beat them.

I think David Mitchell got closest on HIGNFY. The news is by and large boring, so people feel the need to jazz it up and make it controversial and something people are talking about. Hence the increasing tabloidisation.

There was a time when I had high hopes for Emma Barnett, she was good at holding interviewee's feet to the fire.

Like Paxmann, she concentrated on her biggest weapon (the gotcha) question - to the exclusion of all her other strengths.
After that the Gotchas became predictable, absurd, and prone to sound like bullying.
She also came across as extremely biased on certain identity issues.

I guess the career of the star interviewer is littered with traps.
Bias, and believing your own legend being two of the hardest to avoid.

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:03 am I think David Mitchell got closest on HIGNFY. The news is by and large boring, so people feel the need to jazz it up and make it controversial and something people are talking about. Hence the increasing tabloidisation.

Sky do similar with football. They can't just preview, show and analyse a match. There has to be a soap opera-esque narrative to the broadcast. Most of the time now, the following day's football news isn't about the match, it's about what the pundits said about the match in their usual over-dramatic way.*

*points accusatory finger at Neville and Carragher.

"It's the first time these two teams have met since 1953! Can Fulchester United break the curse and beat Grimethorp?".

Who knows or cares? Everyone involved last time is either retired or dead.

Ahem, Brian Walden.

Marr interviewing Hancock, referring to Cummings recent comments, asked if he had lied.

Reminds me of the reporter calling out to Patel in Downing Street last year; "Are you a bully, Ms Patel?"

What answer do they expect?

A cheery "Certainly am! Woe betide the minion who crosses my path! Catch ya later."

On the Patel one, it's so they can (with a reasonably straight face) report that "Mrs Patel declined to deny that she was a bully", and let the readers fill in the gaps.

AOB wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 10:35 am Marr interviewing Hancock, referring to Cummings recent comments, asked if he had lied.

Reminds me of the reporter calling out to Patel in Downing Street last year; "Are you a bully, Ms Patel?"

What answer do they expect?

A cheery "Certainly am! Woe betide the minion who crosses my path! Catch ya later."

It gets him to double down on the lie in front of a (presumably) larger audience.

Marr thinks the vaccination programme is too slow now. I've no idea what the staff and volunteers who have been working their socks off would make of his comments. He could always volunteer himself, instead of poncing around art galleries looking at Monet paintings, or visiting Cornish pubs as he says he's been doing this weekend.

He's a bit of a shit in real life, too.

I need to swerve that show. It's not good I get so wound up by him.

And this is the country we've become.