Collapse of standards at BBC news

Anthony Barnett (London, OK): One theme of our present government is the revulsion of the people from politics. The media has something to do with this, but what? Is it just the honest messenger reporting the hollowness and hypocrisy of those who seek power - shot at by those who don't want the truth to be known? Or is the media a distorting lens exercising a dishonest influence, pillorying those it grips in its stocks, and by doing so giving its own self the power its scorns the politicians for seeking? This evening the main BBC 10 o’clock news definitely fell into the second category. Nick Robinson interviewed back-from-holiday David Cameron about the revolt over his Grammar Schools policy. You can see the full interview on the BBC website. Cameron defends his approach under hard questioning. We can judge what we think for ourselves. But on the TV the interview was cut back and broken up into little pieces as episodes within the framework of a relentless and elaborate cartoon send-up of Cameron trying to change his policies. It was a demeaning, dumbing-down and (sorry about the ‘d’s) dishonest. It wasn’t news and its effect, apart from being a party-political broadcast for the government, was to utterly trivialise politics as such. It seems that the BBC website has better judgement and has not reproduced it. Perhaps it will find its way to YouTube so you can see what I mean.