For giving the BNP a platform into the mainstream audience! This was the most controversial and hype creating move the BBC has made in a long time. Question Time has granted been watched by 50 times the average audience just by having Nick Griffins as part of the panel but it does make you wonder was it worth it? the mass protest had been going on on the streets of London, particularly West London where the BBC Television studios are based, for days at times blocking the movement of traffic and causing casualties!
People were appalled and disgusted by the mere thought that a far-right fascist racist party would get the opportunity to air their thoughts on prime time TV. Some have gone as far as accusing the BNP of poisoning politics.
But this is where I see beauty in the way the media works sometimes because whether people like it or not the BNP is a recognised political party in the UK that has a large following but more to the point their followers are largely misguided people or folks who are unhappy with the leading parties and the BNP tapped into their vulnerability. And when you put someone like Nick Griffins on a show like Question Time, not only will the BBC fulfil their responsibility to include minority as well as majority tax payers but they also expose the party for what they truly stand for which is solely based on hatred of immigrants and white supremacy, not the well-scripted promos that they show when they're on the campaign trail.
And that point was hit right on the head. Griffins was confronted with racists remarks and comments that he made on numerous different newspapers and radio shows and he couldn't put two words together stumbling all over his sentences. What makes the show that bit more delightful is the engagement that is allowed to the regular public, who get to ask their questions and make their comments directly to all the panelists, which this time included Jack Straw of Labour, David Huhne from Lib Dem and Baroness Warsi from the Tories amongst others (you should've seen the face she pulled when Nick Griffins was asked whether he thought Muslims were repulsive and he said yes! She is a Muslim by the way).
This then generates a heated debate across all the panelists because they're all vying to sell their parties' policies and justify whatever actions they took that they've been criticized for. This is where oratory skills come in handy. Nick Griffins couldn't get passed his shaky nerves and this was made worse by the public who couldn't hold themselves back hurling abuse at him from left, right and centre! I did wish they would allow him to speak more though just so that he could contribute to his own embarrassment rather than allowing him to sit back and sqeale out some nervous laughters whenever a difficult questions is raised. LOVED IT!! Brilliant telly.
Back on this side of the Atlantic I am working on full speed with a heavy workload and the side projects coming to realisation. I'm half-way through collecting interivews and audio for the English to Africa horn series which by the way I'm getting excited about as the series develop.
WEBR's training classes are also coming to an end this Saturday and we've already started the pre-planning and shaping of the radio show. It will be East Africa mayhem all over the airwaves and I can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment