Why, in a democracy, is one of the pre-election debates going to be on Sky??

[said]

Story here Not that I'm convinced about these deabtes - reducing politics to personalities etc - but some of use do not buy into Murdoch.

where? when? how can I get to one,

Saw the sky mayor debate live, realy weird,every one stood round like plums during breaks.

Atlantis, you do add a certain refreshingly comedic value to Mumsnet, for which I thank you.

"where? when? how can I get to one "

www.labour.org.uk/home

I'm sure they can send you one out at a small cost £300 ? that will go to a good cause (Harriet needs a cheap pair of shoes to fit in with the lower classes).

"Atlantis, you do add a certain refreshingly comedic value to Mumsnet, for which I thank you."

Glad I could lighten your day.

I really think accusations of pro-Labour bias on the BBC are absolutely comical. Nick Robinson is known to be a Tory. Evan Davis has an (IMO) reprehensible bias towards right-wing economic theories. John Humphrys hates everybody. The World at One's main anchor was hired specifically because of his anti-Labour stance. And as for the whole Hutton affair... what on earth would the BBC have to to do to convince you that it's not in Labour's pocket?

I think there is a leftish bias on the BBC when it comes to comedians, mind you. I was trying to think of a right-wing comedian the other day - one who might appear on HIGNFY or the News Quiz - and couldn't think of a single one. But I'm not sure that's the BBC's fault.

Said - as others have said, Sky has a reasonable claim to being the second- or third-most important provider of news on television (after BBC and ITN - and possibly before ITN). As such there's a strong argument for allowing it to have one of the debates, I think. I'm not saying I like it, mind - just that it would have provoked a lot of comment if Sky had been cut out of them.

Ah, maybe I misunderstood you then pw. I assumed you were saying it'd still be ok for Sky to have a say if we had to pay to watch this debate. If it's free to watch (ie watchable for those who won't fund Murdoch), then grudgingly, I accept that's the way of teh world etc. I think it would not be ok if this were aired on a Sky pay to view channel That was my point.

It is surely most likely to be aired on Sky News (and possibly Sky HD) which is perhaps available to people with FreeSat - don't know about Freeview, to be honest.

Of course, not going to be viewable by any of the minority (perhaps mostly pensioners) who do not have any digital TV kit in their home (and don't need any, for now, either).

Absolutely agree with Policywonk, Nick Robinson is soooooo Tory.(Wracks brains to think of any comedian, other than Jim Davidson, who isn't actually a comedian per se, who is an out and out Tory....)

"Absolutely agree with Policywonk, Nick Robinson is soooooo Tory."

Yes I do apologise ( I don't watch the bbc you see ) he's not the facist pig labourite, it's Marr ( that's the guy with the big ears yes? ).

Nick Robinosn was in the Young Conservatives wasn't he? And Marr is a mate (ie go to each others parties) of Osborne's

"Nick Robinosn was in the Young Conservatives wasn't he?"

And Marr was once a member of the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory. At Cambridge, Marr says he was a "raving leftie", and he acquired the sobriquet of 'Red Andy'.

But that's the point, atlantis - the BBC employs both. In an area like politics, it's not as though you're going to be able to find well qualified political correspondents who have never held a party political standpoint in their entire lives - not realistic. The best you can do - and what the BBC does absolutely impeccably in my view - is to ensure that the overall output is balanced.

I'm not quite sure how you can make judgements about the BBC's impartiality when, by your own admission, you don't watch or listen to it. If you take all your information about it from right-wing, anti-BBC sources, you're going to get a necessarily inaccurate view. I never watch Sky, but I don't pretend to know anything about its coverage.

Bernadette - I know because that's the deal.

Don't you get free Sky? I do because I facilitate the mention.

Tallulah, To be fair, Cameron was asked his favourite programme on Alan Titmarsh's show and he said something and Lark Rise (BBC)

"
I'm not quite sure how you can make judgements about the BBC's impartiality when, by your own admission, you don't watch or listen to it. If you take all your information about it from right-wing, anti-BBC sources, you're going to get a necessarily inaccurate view."

Actually I get my information from my father who gives me an earbashing every time he's on the phone because the beeb are proping up labour and sneering at the conservatives (or as he says, ' the bbc still support the labour party so they can't be all bad can they? ' - (he doesn't have sky (because ' it's a capitalist, culturally immoral denegration of values in a consummer driven society')< sighs>, and my sister who moans 'ffs when are the bbc going to get off of the labour party payroll?'.

I watch two shows on the bbc, one is question time and the other is this week (Diana Abbott being one of a handful of labour polititians who is actually worth voting for )so I have no idea who anyone else is.

Policywonk - who do you mean as the World at One's main anchor? That's Martha Kearney, surely?

"What big business doesn't look at tesco's and alike, it's the nature of the beast."

Last I checked, Tesco wasn't celebrating one particular party's victory with "ITS TESCO'S VALUE RANGE WOT WON IT!"

meh... I used to have to go to houseprice crash.co.uk for this level of debate. Now it's come over here...