HUMPH

*
Wendy's brother Douglas Alexander was on 'Today' this morning talking to John Humphrys about the election. Labour's new slogan is 'A Future Fair for All'. http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8525000/8525831.stm
*
Wouldn't that make a great slogan for the 'Today' programme itself? Whenever James Naughtie faces a Conservative spokesman and a Labour spokesman in the same studio, he could look up to a large poster on the wall of the 'Today' studio and think to himself, 'Yes, I will be fair to all, today and for ever more! I will mend my ways!'
*
Well you can hope!!
*
He already has an example to look too. John Humphrys is, like Naughtie, a known leftie but he rarely features on this little blog of mine as he's clearly conscious that it's his duty to try to be impartial when interviewing. Yes, he may sound off sometimes (usually about bankers!) and certainly can let his opinions shine through his questioning (as tends to happen whenever Iraq and Afghanistan are under discussion!) and, yes, he does on the whole interrupt Conservatives more than Labour politicians, but against all this can be set such interviews as this morning's with Mr Alexander. He asked a lot of tough, spot-on questions about the economy and scored a high interruption coefficient of 1.8 against him.
*
That's the way to do it Jim! It's called professionalism!
*