I figured emailing the director of BBC News with my disgust at Paxman's interview of Alex Salmond was a more productive way of venting than shouting at the telly and slamming the TV remote about in a rage.
See below.
Good evening,
I wanted to express my disgust at tonight's episode (24/01/2012) of Newsnight, where Jeremy Paxman was seen to grill Alex Salmond in the most blatantly pro-union, anti-Scotland piece of coverage I have seen since the independence referendum debate started a week or so ago.
Any lucky soul who tuned in having never heard of Jeremy Paxman would have been forgiven for thinking they'd stumbled across some brilliant new Chris Morris satire, where instead of having Noel Edmonds bemoaning the dangers of "made-up drug" Cake (or as it's known on the street, 'Joss Ackland's spunky backpack'), Morris' genius new incaranation drew ludicrous comparisons between Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.
Unfortunately, I'm well aware of Paxman and the fact that the slabbering, ranting moron was all too serious as he tried to rip Salmond to bits, comparing the SNP leader to the racist and homophobic leader Mugabe but stopping just short, as he foamed at the mouth, of leaping from his chair and simply raining down punches on Salmond's head, as was surely his want.
I understand that the BBC practically encourage this sort of boorish, stupid behaviour from Paxman, but surely any interviewer's job is to delicately straddle the line between both sides of the debate - to give Salmond a platform on which to air his beliefs, while tackling him and taking the SNP leader to task in the holes on his referendum proposal - rather than to be so blatantly esconced in one camp? He would have been as well conducting the interview in nothing but Union Jack -patterned pants and a souvenier t-shirt from last year's royal wedding.
I would trust the BBC could handle their presenter a little better, balancing the viewing figures that his controversial style brings with the quality and fairness of broadcasting that should be expected of Britain's public service broadcaster, but that may be a bit much to ask from the channel who commissioned My Family, So You Think You Can Dance, Don't Scare The Hare, That's Britain, Doctors, The One Show, Film with Claudia Winkleman, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Tittybangbang, Danny Dyer: I Believe In UFOs, Coming of Age, Britain's Most Embarrassing Pets, Help Me Anthea I'm Infested, Britain's Worst Teeth and My Life As An Animal.
As Paxman continued on his wild-eyed rampage against all things Scotland, shouting Salmond down before he could even answer his questions (really, what was the point of even asking them, rather than simply ranting in Eck's face?) - you really couldn't help but be reminded of Morris and his classic news satire The Day Today. One of the best sketches involved grilling a woman who had organised a Jam Festival where he shouts the immortal line, "You could make more money sitting outside a tube station with your hat on the ground, even if you were twice as ugly as you are which is very ugly indeed!" Would Newsnight viewers really have found it out of keeping with the tone of the rest of the interview if Paxman had shouted this at Salmond as he quizzed him on the finances of an independent Scotland? I doubt it.
Anyway, as I said, I wanted to express my disgust at the episode, but then I thought about how angry it had made me and doubtless many other Scots who had tuned in. Some viewers north of the border who unlike myself, may not yet be so firmly in the 'Yes' camp, but who could be convinced if the BBC continue to waste our TV licence on condescending, borderline racist clowns like Paxman - "certainly the picture of the patronising Englishman" as Mark Hennessy of the Irish Times described his pathetic performance - whilst pitting them against intelligent and reassuringly positive figures from the Scottish nationalist camp. It can do the cause no harm.
So really I just wanted to thank you for what has to be one of the most ludicrous, biased segments of political broadcasting I have ever witnessed from the British Broadcasting Corporation. Programmes like tonight's will help deliver independence faster than any balanced, adult discussion of the issues at hand ever will.
Regards,
Graeme J
I await a response.
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