NewsNight -bollox

jawooga

just started watching news night tonight. when did that become hysterical sensationalist Shiite ? They asked Greg Dyke about the world cup bid (football) then tried to cover an ex footballers rape case in 5 mins.When Dyke refused to be put on the spot the presenter tried to castigate him for not having an opinion. Disgraceful!

pinno

jawooga wrote:

just started watching news night tonight. when did that become hysterical sensationalist Shiite ? They asked Greg Dyke about the world cup bid (football) then tried to cover an ex footballers rape case in 5 mins.When Dyke refused to be put on the spot the presenter tried to castigate him for not having an opinion. Disgraceful!

It has got worse - we now have the pre-epitaph for Millibland.

Mikey23

fed up with the beeb news coverage... used to be a regular listener of today on R4 but sick of the way the presenters talk over and talk down to their guests and clearly have a political agenda of their own that the try to assert on their listeners. and of cause waiting for the odd unguarded response which they can then build up into something sensational and exclusive...

nathancom

Mikey23 wrote:

fed up with the beeb news coverage... used to be a regular listener of today on R4 but sick of the way the presenters talk over and talk down to their guests and clearly have a political agenda of their own that the try to assert on their listeners. and of cause waiting for the odd unguarded response which they can then build up into something sensational and exclusive...

That is what annoys me most - there was a beeb interviewer questioning a colleague of Obama and tried to get the person to criticise him about 7 or 8 times. It seemed they were more interested in grabbing a sensationalist headline instead of having a meaningful dialogue.

morstar

It's a huge problem imho. This trying to seek sensationalism in everything is a major contributory factor in our mp's being so bland.
I'm certain there's plenty of idiot politicians, but I'm also confident there are some dynamic, talented people in the crop. They're just treading on egg shells all the time.

oldhairylegs

Mikey23 wrote:

fed up with the beeb news coverage... used to be a regular listener of today on R4 but sick of the way the presenters talk over and talk down to their guests ......

^This.

When is somebody going to tell James Naughtie that his so called 'questions' have become so long, convoluted and tiresome that the guest has lost interest by the time it's their turn to speak?

As for John Humphries; he has turned into a cranky, cantankerous git who needs to retire to his farm!

pinno

This style of questioning seems to have pervaded all aspects of television and radio.

"Do you think that in the light of recent developments that, the evidence will be handed over to the police and the person in question charged for the assault on the woman and be jailed for a term of no longer than 8 years and be released after good behaviour - do you think that's right, I mean the judicial system has been criticised for being too lenient on people who do this sort of thing and this is yet another case that will make the public angry especially after Miles McNoone was released for the same offence in 1762 which set a precedent that the law courts are trying desperately to overturn?"

On a more serious note, the way questions are delivered, the journalists presume a sort of higher being status instead of being journalists. It is really bad in sports coverage. It amazes me how so many people answer with 'Absolutely...da da da da' because the question has been asked and answered before the interviewee has had a chance to say his/her piece. It is leading and it is a poor method of questioning.

RDW

I don't hear any political agenda on Today (or Newsnight), just journalists trying to cut through the blandly misleading prepared crap that a pretty high proportion of the politicians they host are trying to broadcast (instead of actually answering any awkward questions). The BBC do this no matter who is in power. The only time I find it irritating is when they sometimes use the same interview techniques on a 'civilian' who really doesn't deserve this treatment and (unlike the politicians) isn't prepared for it.

jawooga

I don't think there's any political bias. I do think that politicians need to be held accountable and should prove some knowledge of public life that they're responsible for, and so their answers need to be pushed and explored. But in some ways, a long, convoluted, leading question is easier to answer as it gives time to formulate an answer on any of the sub- points that the interviewee is most comfortable in addressing! I would like to see more subtle 'What do you think about...' type questions.

morstar

I don't see bias either but I do see sensationalism. Any sort of committed opinion is really sensationalised so interviewees tread a very careful path with their answers. This approach encourages bland responses.
Challenging questions are perfectly apt and very desirable but the interviewer frequently leads the audience with an emotional, shocked response to any sort of contentious answer. Rather than exploring and challenging the idea expressed, the response is of the type 'that's outrageous'.
5 mins later you see a headline on the BBC website... 'So and so says something really terrible' when actually the response was quite measured and reasonable.
It cuts both ways though. Left and right.

Lookyhere

I too saw the dyke interview..... Surely its perfectly reasonable to expect the head of the FA to have an opinion on chad evans? Richard Scudamore has said he would nt employ a convicted rapist, personally I would find it very odd, if Dyke hadn't been asked about this.
Equal odd that Dyke couldn't bring himself to say yes or no, its a simple enough question.

Giraffoto

It's a cornerstone of our democracy that the PM can be more or less summoned to Newsnight for a b0ll0cking from Jeremy Paxman or his designated successors.

ballysmate

Another uncomfortable night for Millipede by all accounts. Savaged by Myleene Klass.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... n-tax.html

MichaelW

oldhairylegs wrote:

Mikey23 wrote:

fed up with the beeb news coverage... used to be a regular listener of today on R4 but sick of the way the presenters talk over and talk down to their guests ......

^This.

When is somebody going to tell James Naughtie that his so called 'questions' have become so long, convoluted and tiresome that the guest has lost interest by the time it's their turn to speak?

As for John Humphries; he has turned into a cranky, cantankerous git who needs to retire to his farm!

^This.

Giraffoto

Ballysmate wrote:

Another uncomfortable night for Millipede by all accounts. Savaged by Myleene Klass.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... n-tax.html

Covered brilliantly here