The incredible Iain Dale
Posted on Oct 19 2006 | Tagged as: Politics, Blogistan, Work
Iain Dale managed to lose credibility before his guest lecture had even started when we walked into the hall and were greeted by a 20-ft projection of this post, in which he states: “I’m on my way to Cardiff to deliver a lecture on new media to media studies post graduate students…”He doesn’t know the difference between Media Studies and Journalism? Would he call a trainee doctor a biology student? Ho hum…
While his “Tory TV” internet station 18 Doughty Street is certainly an interesting idea, it could well be a victim of its own success before too long. If it’s turns out to be popular, the mainstream media will want a piece - just as the Guardian’s Comment Is Free group blog nicked a lot of the best bloggers.
The station’s major attraction is real political debate, which has been missing from the established news channels for a long time. But if he can do it, so can they. The sole advantage that the internet has is that the absence of schedules means interesting debates aren’t cut off mid-flow. But the same can be achieved with a digital channel given over to debate. The BBC already broadcasts from parliament, and that can go on and on and on like Ariston. I can see it now: BBC Debate.
They’d possibly lose the presenters’ own “polemical introductions”, as Iain put it, but personally, I think mainstream broadcasters are more likely to lobby Ofcom to allow them to put a point of view across rather than lose viewers to the web.
