- James Stephenson
- 12 Oct 07, 02:42 PM
We have had a number of about the views Kelvin Mackenzie expressed on Question Time last night concerning Scotland. He is a high profile former editor of a tabloid newspaper - and current Sun columnist - with strong opinions to match.
Question Time considers Kelvin Mackenzie to be a suitable panellist since the programme is committed to including a wide range of views and perspectives.
His views are controversial - but robust argument is what the debate on Question Time is about. There is no question of the ѿý or Question Time endorsing the views of any panellist who appears on the programme. Scotland was not the subject of the question asked and his view was robustly rejected both by other panellists and members of the audience. David Dimbleby pointed out that his Sun column is not even carried in the Scottish edition of the paper.
The programme is pre-recorded earlier in the evening, but is only edited to deal with legal or technical issues. His views did not fall into that category and it would not therefore have been appropriate to edit them out.
James Stephenson is chief of the Jerusalem bureau
- Craig Oliver
- 12 Oct 07, 01:35 PM
Climate change has joined a select band of issues where passions are at boiling point.
A few months ago a designed to debunk the "global warming industry" sparked controversy for having significant factual errors.
On Wednesday night's Ten O'Clock News we led the programme with a about a High Court judge pointing out nine "errors" in Al Gore's - a documentary which unashamedly argues that the world faces catastrophe if we do not address the issue. The fact that Al Gore was the hot tip to win the added to the topicality of the story.
Today he won the prize, and - unsurprisingly - it's a controversial choice, not least because the question being asked is: what has climate change got to do with promoting world peace?
The key point is that we live in a world where some documentaries are created to argue a very specific case - the producers marshal the facts to ensure their view is seen in the best light, emphasising certain points, while ignoring or underplaying “inconvenient truths”. This is a dangerous game - if you appear to be on shaky ground, your opponents will ask 'If you got that wrong, surely your entire case is wrong?' The truth is usually far more difficult, and more interesting.
Some may find it hard to believe - and I am already anticipating the response to this blog - ѿý News will always try to give a full, impartial picture on climate change. That's why we have done pieces pointing out why the majority of scientists believe it is happening, why some believe it is happening but it may not be as catastrophic as Al Gore makes out, and others pointing to the flaws in Gore's case. It is a story - and a debate - that will run and run. And rightly so.
Craig Oliver is editor of ѿý News at Six and ѿý News at Ten
- Steve Herrmann
- 12 Oct 07, 01:22 PM
For several hours on Thursday afternoon, the front page of the ѿý News website was slow to respond, sometimes displaying error messages. Other sections of the site were also affected at various times during the afternoon.
It's a rare event and it caused some comment on technical websites, and also theories about what might have happened - was the ѿý changing its webserving providers? Was it a redesign problem? Was it "computer gods punishing us for iPlayer"?
Well although the investigations aren't fully complete, our technical team has confirmed the problems were triggered by a routine software deployment that had unforeseen consequences. To those who had trouble getting onto the site yesterday - apologies - nothing is more important to us than the reliability and resilience of our services and we are taking another hard look at our deployment, contingency and back up procedures.
Steve Herrmann is editor of the
- Peter Barron
- 12 Oct 07, 10:40 AM
It's said that , the founder of Desert Island Discs, could always tell when a guest's choices were genuine and when they'd been prepared by a PR to play well with the public.
I've heard a few deeply suspect selections from very senior politicians down the years, but I'm pretty certain Alan Johnson, Health Secretary and rock star wannabe, was speaking from the heart on the latest show. And good choices too (see below for details). Not just any old Beatles song, but And Your Bird Can Sing, surely their finest moment. Elvis Costello and David Bowie too. But was that dash of Mahler really in his top eight, or with an eye to the classical vote?
Most intriguing though, was discussion of his own recording career - an unreleased disc called Hard Life by a group called The Area. He claims no longer to have a copy, but surely someone out there has it? If so we'd love to hear it and would be pleased to post it on our new .
Continue reading "Playlist kudos"
Peter Barron is editor of Newsnight
The Guardian: Reports that Sir Michael Lyons has told leading ѿý broadcasters to keep out of the public debate over proposed budget cuts. ()
Press Gazette: Article on Gordon Brown's exclusive interview with Andrew Marr over his election decision. ()
The Times: Analysis of the current difficulties facing Mark Thompson. ()
Metro: "Burma's military rulers have accused the ѿý of provoking the anti-government demonstrations in the country." ()
