Question Time

[whiskeryron]

What a shambles. Anyone agree ?

[vetuste_ennemi]

I like the "sham" bit.

Why watch QT? Well research for your doctoral thesis on how free societies transition (have I got the back-formation right?) into tyrannies while preserving the illusions of liberty.

It's a propaganda effort, a gradual (though obviously not necessarily slow) process, like heating up the water one degree at a time to stop the frog jumping out of the pot before it's boiled.

QT is a sham debate. In the real world there's a spread of opinion, let's say A thru E, where A and E might be considered extreme. The QT "representative" panel has one A, three varieties of B and one C (very occasionally a D), is moderated by a B with an audience of As and Bs, usually no Cs or Ds, but one E for comic effect.

The pervasive repetition of this tendentious selective and editorial process, employed by all the main media, is imposing the view that the only intelligent and moral positions to be taken on issues like Brexit or mass immigration belong in the A and B camps, and that those who think differently (that's about half the population ) are "losers" to be pitied or "deplorables" to be despised.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Noticed that tonight's edition had Gina ("Parliament is sovereign") Miller, Piers ("You're hired") Morgan and Charles Moore.

Is that the Charles Moore who's editor of the Spectator(to which I subscribe)? If so must watch it.

[RobNorth]

VE
Spot-on.

[Gromit]

The Spectator is of course edited by Fraser Nelson.
Charles Moore is a Daily Telegraph columnist and biographer of Margaret Thatcher.

QT has always been awful. Anything that bad would have been cancelled years ago, but politicians like appearing on it, and the BBC are eager to please their paymasters.

[ichkeria]

The silly season is truly upon us.

[vetuste_ennemi]

//The silly season is truly upon us//

Possibly so. Is this comment just sipp-taking, or is there something more clever going on?

[Kromovaracun]

Just watched it.

Seems about par for the course for the Clapping Forecast. Very entertaining but essentially trash TV.

[douglas9401]

I got as far as 'the woman in the green dress'. Grim stuff.

[murraymints]

was it on here Douglas.looked in telly book ..not there

[ichkeria]

I think it was Mussolini who talked about eliminating democracy degree by degree so no one round notice.
He also invented ‘drain the swamp’ I believe, fittingly enough.

[douglas9401]

She was a lawyer in the audience, Minty, Dimbulb couldn't get her to shut up once she got going.

[murraymints]

according to my telly book it was minder on last night...will look on catch up

[goodgoalie]

In the Saturday Times Magazine of 30th June, Caitlin Moran wrote an excellent article on 'How to improve Question Time'. Briefly, her suggestions were:
1 Get rid of the audience
2 Get rid of the fifth chair with 'wild card' comedian or celebrity
3 Take fifth chair put it on the other side of the room behind a desk and have someone sit there fact-checking the claims made by the panellists. Judge Bullsh*t bangs a gong and shouts "INCORRECT! You have ten seconds to withdraw this falsehood- or it's the GUNGE TANK"
4 Oh yeah. There'd also be a gunge tank

[murraymints]

I rather like the 5th chair... it can bring some fun moments to an otherwise dull hour !

[New Judge]

What, like when Eddie Izzard and Russel Brand appeared on what is billed as a serious topical programme, you mean?