ANY QUESTIONS?

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This week's Any Questions featured a revealing encounter between Jonathan Dimbleby and a member of the audience (a typically left-wing audience, but then it was from just outside Swansea.)
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The questioner, a Mr Greg Wilkinson, offered the panel a choice of questions (war and peace or equality and inequality) - much to JD's surprise. Dimbleby wanted to be able to ask Labour leadership no-hoper John McDonnell about the Labour leadership and prompted Mr Wilkinson to use what was clearly the agreed question about the Labour leadership. The bolshie Mr Wilkinson was not playing ball: "I was given a question to ask, but that's my question. She said 'Any question', this is my question." He asked an anti-American, pro-European, anti-war question instead. (For more on Mr Wilkinson:
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Pensioner-picks-date-protest/article-594221-detail/article.html)
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Jonathan Dimbleby, clearly embarrassed, returned to the subject shortly afterwards, as he thought that the listening public might be "puzzled" about this exchange. He thought, naturally, that the listening public might leap to the conclusion that Mr Wilkinson's "I was given a question to ask" meant that the show's producers sometimes give their own pre-prepared questions to the audience for them to ask on their behalf - which, if true, would completely undermine the show's credibility. (Haven't we all suspected that from time to time though? And even more so about its sister show - or should that be 'brother show'? - Question Time?)
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JD explained that what Mr Wilkinson meant was that because the show gets large numbers of questions from the audience each week the producers must pick a handful to be read out. This is sort-of obvious, but it puts on record the fact that what gets asked and who is chosen to ask the questions is entirely at the discretion of the programme's producers. If a question attacking the coalition comes up first, or a question calling for the scrapping of Trident comes up third, that happens because the shows producers have chosen it to happen. If a left-wing, anti-Israeli protester (like Mr Wilkinson) gets called on to ask a question, that's because he has been picked by the show's producers. Everything is filtered through their lenses. There's nothing random about the show. All very obvious really, but sometimes the obvious goes unnoticed.
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As further evidence for all this, and in blatant disregard for the very idea behind the show, Jonathan Dimbleby then - after the four panelists had finished holding forth on Mr Wilkinson's question - simply went ahead and put the question Mr Wilkinson was supposed to have asked to John McDonnell, regardless. The programme's agenda was not going to be derailed that easily!
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GRRRR!!!

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It seems that the composition of the audience during the election for Radio 4's 'Any Questions' is not governed by any rules of impartiality. Both Not a sheep and Freddo41 have recorded their shock at last night's edition:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgvj
http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2010/04/open-thread_21.html
http://notasheepmaybeagoat.blogspot.com/2010/04/any-questions-yes-where-did-you-find.html
(Warning: Do not listen to this programme unless you have steeled yourself in advance).
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Conservative Caroline Spelman was repeatedly hissed and booed for saying nothing very offensive, while Jack Straw was whooped and cheered to the rafters for saying nothing very exciting. (God, how I hate whooping audiences). All attacks on the Conservatives (whether from Sir Ming Campbell, Jack or the questioners) were greeting with joyful hysteria. This was not an audience representative of anywhere - other than a Labour student rally! Stomach-churning stuff!
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The tiny dribble of applause for any statement of support for the idea of celebrating St George's Day and flying the English flag, as well as the Muslim questioner who didn't want to feel English, or even British by the sounds of it (just a "citizen"), made the result of Jonathan Dimbleby's question to the audience a foregone conclusion: "Can an immigrant unequivocally celebrate St George's Day?" he asked. "Overwhelmingly in this audience, including our questioner - I saw her hand go up - no."
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Never mind 'balanced parliaments' shouldn't there be 'balanced audiences' during a general election? Shouldn't there be some rules about it, as there are (it seems) with Question Time?
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When the South Park question came up (the makers of this wonderful programme have received death threats for portraying Mohammed as a bear) and Justine Roberts of Mumsnet began cringing in the face of joyless Islamism, followed by Jack Straw, I reached for the off-switch - only to pause when Sir Ming Campbell stood up strongly in favour of freedom of speech, without equivocation. Well done old man! (The whooping support of the audience lessened my enjoyment of the moment though!!)
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Perhaps inspired by this, Caroline Spelman spoke cautiously but sensibly. I particularly liked "Perhaps you don't know this, but if you don't like what you hear on the BBC, if eight of you complain, then there is a formal complaints process." I wonder why she had that in her mind at that moment!! She then somewhat spoiled it by rounding things off with a cringe of her own. She got a tiny smattering of applause and some boos for her pains!
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(The dim-witted questioner, incidentally, said "Personally I dislike South Park. I think its crass. I think it's distasteful and...(wait for it!!) ...I never watch it." )
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The final ask-the-audience was "Who would have preferred to be at the pub than here at Any Questions?" Almost everyone in the country I hope!
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So, eight people=a formal complaint. If Caroline Spelman sends one, and me another...
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UPDATE: David has now taken this up at B-BBC and says something I forgot to say but which I feel strongly. I felt so sorry for Caroline Spelman. Unlike some other Conservatives, Caroline has always replied to my e-mails. That shows courtesy, at the very least. She wasn't protected by Jonathan Dimbleby, who is no St George.*
http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2010/04/any-questions.html
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And I'm heartened to see this comment from an old favourite at B-BBC (who, under various amusing guises, if I'm not mistaken, has been easing himself back into the swing of things recently):
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Ronald Todd
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Will the BBC use the same audience they had for Any Questions at the leaders debate?
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God forbid! David Dimbleby is quite enough!
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UPDATE: A highly enlightening post from DB at Biased BBC:
http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2010/04/any-questions-again.html

THE OTHER DIMBLEBORE

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Having taken the plunge last year into watching David Dimbleby's Question Time again after a long, long break (the bias, the crazy left-wing audiences), prompted by the Biased BBC website's weekly commentaries, I thought I might tonight plunge into Radio 4's Any Questions (the bias, the crazy left-wing audiences), hosted by the other Dimbleby. Much as I'd love to provide a weekly review of it here, I don't think I'll be doing so (or at least that's how I feel at the moment, as I'm still seething).
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The panel was packed with left-wingers - Polly Toynbee, Sadiq Khan and that most left-wing of Lib Dems Simon Hughes. Only Dan Hannan stood up for right-of-centre opinion. Throw in left-liberal-to-his-green-fingertips Jonathan Dimbleby and that's four against one. And that's before you even consider the audience. Where do they get these audiences from? (From the Question Time audience list perhaps?) I listened to the programme back in the 1980s when Mrs Thatcher led the Conservatives to two large election victories - you would never have known that from the make-up of the audiences then. And now, twenty years on, it sounds just the same. The hostility shown towards Mr Hannan by tonight's audience was something to hear.
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The programme's nadir came during the section on the Conservatives' self-confessed 'screw-up' over tax breaks for married couples. All three left-of-centre panellists ganged up on Dan Hannan. Dimbleby only restrained them so that he could have a go himself - and the audience booed and heckled, as if they were a bunch of Labour Party hirelings. Dan, as ever, stood firm and (seemingly) unperturbed.
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At the end of this section Dimbleby said that all the clapping came for both sides of the argument. That was not what I heard. Not what I heard at all. He then, foolishly, put this clearly absurd statement to the test and conducted a straw poll that, surprise surprise, showed very little support for the Conservatives and a "large majority" of the audience against. Dimbleby didn't admit (unlike David Cameron) that he misspoke.