Paxman confirms what we all knew about the BBC...

[????]

:)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jeremy-paxman-im-a-onenation-tory-and-newsnight-is-made-by-13yearolds-9566874.html

[uncleglen]

The fact that he could not say these things whilst still working at the BBC speaks volumes imvho

[Otta]

Really?

Do you think anyone would last long with any employer if they said the people making their product were like a bunch of 13 year olds with no idea?

And a person interviewing politicians should be impartial (which he was). Going public with your views distorts that even if he had tried to remain impartial.

I like Paxman, and see what he's saying about ideology of the young, but think it's right that he kept quiet til he'd left the job.

[Jeremy]

Was thinking the same thing... publically slagging off your employer isn't really the done thing, is it?

I guess "managing the best you can to the advantage of as many people as possible" should be the aim of all political parties, but nevertheless it wouldn't be a tagline I'd necessarily associate with the tories.

[uncleglen]

I meant that he could not say anything whilst at the BBC because they are so entrenched in their own leftie smugness -and I suppose he knew they would sack him since they are a bunch of petulant children and he wanted to make exposures. I also like Paxman - he is a breath of honest fresh air

[*Bob*]

uncleglen Wrote:

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- he is a breath of honest fresh air

Apart from the last 25 years of course - where he kept schtumm in order to keep his job

[Otta]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> I guess "managing the best you can to the

> advantage of as many people as possible" should be

> the aim of all political parties, but nevertheless

> it wouldn't be a tagline I'd necessarily associate

> with the tories.

That's what I thought, but guess he means he's more of a Tory types ideologist rather than thinking current politicians are actually doing a good job if doing this.

[El Pibe]

The problem with BBC impartiality, or at least trying to let all sides have a say, means everyone thinks it's against them.

Righties think it's leftist. Lefties think it's rightist, Palestinians think it's pro Israel, Israelis think it's pro Palestine, Christians think it's anti Christian Muslims think it's pro Christian, etc etc etc.

Actually it gave ukip acres of coverage and the greens nowt, so some people might be right...

[healey]

Paxman was in all likelyhood an idealistic "13 year old" when he joined the BBC. That's life.

[????]

Forget the Utilitarianism, ?The closer you can take decision-making to the people affected by those decisions, the better,? he said.

Amen, Jeremy....

[Huguenot]

Isn't there a difference between being socially/economically left or right of centre, and being politically left or right of centre?

The former being a judgement call, and the latter supporting a football team?

One requires analysis and the other an abdication of critical faculties.

Paxman attempts several seemingly innocuous generalizations to make his point, but broadly he paints liberalism as naive, inexperienced, poorly informed, ideological dithering. Conversely he paints his own 'one nation Toryism' as experienced, pragmatic and action focused.

In fact his assertions are confused: action demands by necessity that artificial limits are placed on debate; that at some point you must stop talking and do something.

Yet at the same time he talks about taking decision making to those people who are affected: a process that is both consultative and never ending - since every involved individual will have a different perspective and interpretation of both the impact and the correct course of action.

His parting views would have been dissembled by a more effective interviewer or commentator.

I suspect that Paxman is horribly conflicted. His irascible desire for absolutes (exemplified in his badgering of interviewees to deliver black or white answers to questions) would have been tempered by the handwringing of his team, and he was probably a better journalist for this. He's too intelligent not to know this.

Like a bad web hack, he didn't want to concede this point as it was too closely linked to his sense of identity, so he resorted to 'ad hominem' attacks and the flinging of insults.

The irony is that a polarization of his views at the BBC probably forced his colleagues into even more polarized and opposing positions in order to find a balanced middle ground.

In other words, he himself created the '13 year old' idealism that he claims to despise.

Paxman was and is an excellent journalist, but without the support of his team he would have run out of interviewees willing to accept his attitude very quickly. A wise man would be more reflective on that.

I would like to imagine that with age Paxman would become a wise and somewhat avuncular commentator, but I suspect that without a support network he is more likely to harden his views to the point of becoming a figure of faint ridicule.

Regardless of that, I don't think he's a football team supporter, and will probably regret identifying himself as a 'one nation Tory'.

[StraferJack]

I had no idea Huge has been "back" for a few days already - huzzah

[Huguenot]

:) Still having fun!

Is Paxman a King Lear of our times?

Utterly reliant upon his peer support, but patronizing of their competence, he grants them the keys to the kingdom. He's confident that his authority supersedes the fragile (BBC) autocracy upon which it was built?

Is he destined to be supplanted by the next terrier interviewer at the BBC and rejected by the political elite that was the source of his power?

What will his moment on the blasted heath look like? Who will be his Fool? There seems to be no Gloucester.

Will there be a Cordelia? A BBC acolyte who trusted him when he did not trust himself? Who will finally sacrifice themselves as the painful realization of Paxman's fragility dawns?

[maxxi]

BBCs 1 & 2 are his Regan and Goneril, Now he's no longer KING (Doing Newsnight) they'll regret allowing him and his entourage to stay at their houses carousing (presenting University Challenge and documentaries on The Victorians) and will restrict his servants and entourage (researchers and make-up artists) so he will leave in a fit of pique and end up on the Blasted Heath (Sky) howling at the wind (presenting "Edwardians Unveiled" on Sky Arts 2).

[Huguenot]

Hahaha

[Huguenot]

Blow, Sky, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!

You cataracts and Toryism, spout

Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!

You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,

Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,

Smite flat the thick rotundity o' network!

Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,

That make ingrateful man!

[maxxi]

Huguenot Wrote:

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> Blow, Sky, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!

> You cataracts and Toryism, spout

> Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the

> cocks!

> You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,

> Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,

> Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking

> thunder,

> Smite flat the thick rotundity o' network!

> Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,

> That make ingrateful man!

Your starter for 10 Manchester... er, doth any here know me?

[Huguenot]

We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage:

When thou dost ask me about the BBC, I'll kneel down,

And ask of thee forgiveness: and we'll live,

And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh

At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues

Talk of television news; and we'll talk with them too,

Who loses, and who wins; who's in, who's out;

And take upon 's the mystery of things,

As if we were Sky's spies; and we'll wear out,

In a walled prison, packs and sets of great ones

That ebb and flow by the moon.

[Huguenot]

Oh by heck, there is no greater allusion.

[grabot]

"In fact his assertions are confused: action demands by necessity that artificial limits are placed on debate; that at some point you must stop talking and do something"

Indeed, but those constraints can be derived from observation or, on the other hand, purely abstract ideas. Both approaches have the potential for infinite musing. From my own experience the materialist tends to be more inclined to confront the problem at hand, whereas the idealist seeks to solve all potential future problems. So, I accept his contention.

[northlondoner]

Main problem for NN right now is reports of shameless cronyism and blithe disregard for employment law and procedure. Folk hired without formal interview - others demoted/sidelined on a whim.

A transparency-free zone

[????]

"Trebles all round"

[northlondoner]

Indeed. Sort of hubris that led to the Savile and McAlpine debacles ...and the erroneous " we are the smartest guys in the room" culture that prevails. Oh and the inability to spot that appointig a former BNP sympathiser to a very prominent role might provoke comment.