Saturday 7 May 2005

Jeremy Paxman interview with George Galloway

The question repeatedly asked by Mr Paxman of Mr Galloway crossed the line in terms of professionalism, relevance, common courtesy and racism.

This sort of journalism has no place at the BBC.

I fully expect the producer and the interviewer to be called before a disciplinary board and a full review to be carried out.

Please do not misunderstand this complaint; the BBC has every right, and indeed a duty, to question Mr. Galloway about his actions. However, the actual question posed by Mr Paxman could not possibly yield any useful information.

Mr. Paxman may argue that he was only trying to provoke a reaction; however it is the BBC’s job to report the news, not to make the news.

If Mr. Paxman was interviewing a murderer, then he would have every right to ask a question such as ‘why did you murder John Doe?’

The question asked by Mr. Paxman was "Are you proud of having driven out of Parliament one f the very few black people there?"