Being an Englishman and a political junkie I watch BBC Newsnight regularly. As with the US networks the BBC has an inbuilt left/liberal bias but, although you could never get an Obama/Clinton style love-in for Governor Palin, the recent Newsnight profile of her was reasonably fair.
Even anchor Jeremy Paxman, who can be witheringly sarcastic about politicians, described Palin as the best known woman in American politics without even a micron of snark.
Some kudos, as well, for Jackie Long because she got interesting answers – and even the rather irritating “intellectually challenged” question did give the governor an opportunity to return fire. The setting did not suit itself to “policy” questions so it had to be more about showing her as a person and she came across as bright, lively, attractive and normal rather than the image of someone from the Beverley Hillbillies that is often portrayed even in right wing UK papers like the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph.
The interview with Sarah’s parents was incredibly touching and conveyed a beautiful picture of warmth and love. That they opened up to Jackie Long in such a way must be a tribute to her skill as an interviewer since the whole family is, for good reason, extremely suspicious of the media. Moreover the producers just allowed them to make their own case without “interpretation” or demeaning comments. My friend Cubachi was more critical of the programme than I but she did admire the production values.
The vox pops were as to be expected though how selective they were is open to question but at least the reporter treated Tea Partiers and gun enthusiasts as normal folk rather than characters from Li’l Abner
I think the Shannyn Moore clip was priceless…maybe the BBC producers (hardly likely to be Palinistas) nevertheless recognised a kook when they saw one and gave her enough rope to hang herself.
The conclusion was that, although there are plenty of people who still have to make their minds up, Governor Palin is still a potent political force and should not be underestimated.
Not exactly an overwhelming encomium for the ‘Cuda – but quite a bit fairer than a lot of the stuff I have seen from American TV
One in the eye for George Will?
