When Evidence Enters the Studio, Someone Always Has to Leave
When Evidence Enters the Studio, Someone Always Has to Leave
Editor’s Notebook: The Day Facts Gatecrashed Breakfast Television
From Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, the publications that believe evidence should occasionally be permitted on air.
Piers Morgan walked off set after a guest introduced evidence into the conversation. This is, in the history of British television, the most dramatic thing to happen since the first broadcast. A man famous for having opinions was confronted with facts and responded the only way a man of his convictions can: he left. Quickly. With his microphone still on.
The British Relationship With Evidence
We are not, as a nation, instinctively evidence-based. We are instinct-based, with evidence consulted afterwards to see if it agrees. If it doesn’t, we describe it as biased and look for different evidence. This is true across the political spectrum, but it reaches its purest expression in the format of the morning talk show, where conviction is a structural requirement and facts are guests who weren’t on the original booking.
The Ofcom broadcasting code requires due impartiality. It says nothing about the host remaining in the building. Technically compliant. Full editorial archive: Alan Nafzger. Also: Bohiney on Mamdani.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com | Also: NewsThump