Question Time Response

[ggreig]

Here's the response I got to my complaint to Question Time:

Dear Dr. GREIG

Thanks for taking the time to contact the BBC about Question Time, broadcast on 13 June 2013. We forwarded your concerns to the Executive Editor who passed on the following response:

Question Time is a current affairs programme that covers a

Comments

[tobyaw]

I think there is a wider problem with Question Time - politicians cannot developed a nuanced argument in the time available to them, particularly with the confrontation inherent in the setup and the constant striving for “balance”. QT’s reliance on light entertainment stars and comedians to provide facile, audience-pleasing answers, sucks intelligence and depth from the programme.

It must be popular, though; every Thursday my Twitter feed explodes in anguish as people complain about QT.

Radio 4’s “Any Questions?” does it all so much better. It’s a format that benefits from not having cameras to play to.

[ggreig]

I've not listened to "Any Questions?" in a long time. I used to regard it and Question Time as being quite similar, but maybe they've drifted apart over the years. (My comparison may have been based on Robin Day's Question Time!)

[myceliumme]

Did the inclusion of Mr Farage occur after the rumpus in an Edinburgh pub? If so, his appearance could be regarded as either simply topical or independence-related. Some people might be attracted to Scottish independence in order to leave UKIP and its ilk south of the border.

Similarly, those who are in favour of Scotland having good relationships with continental Europe may have welcomed another chance for Mr Farage to publicise his contempt for Scotland, assuming that this contempt exists and Mr F is brazen or stupid enough to show it - I didn't see the episode.

Either way, I tend to agree that a show about an important thing in Scotland, about which rUK will not have a say should feature the arguments of both sides, and the Scottish politicians involved. On those 'special' episodes I have seen, questions on other topics do occur, usually as light relief, so the 'not a special episode' argument is somewhat specious.

[ggreig]

Yes, it was after that.

As it turned out, I thought the two pro-independence speakers on the panel (Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, and Lesley Riddoch) were more effective than the other four anyway - although I may be biased on this matter!

However, while how the independence argument came off is of interest to me (and of course the Greens favour independence), I would rather have seen the Lib Dems (anti-independence) included as well. The Scottish Greens seem to have got particularly few invites over the years, though, and that seemed especially unfair to me.