Q & A..pplause · 22 May 2008
I caught the pilot episode of ABC’s Q&A, Hosted by Lateline’s Tony Jones – a program described as “A new program which puts punters, pollies and pundits together in the studio to thrash out the hot issues of the week.”
The audience gets to ask the questions from live in the studio, via email or via SMS.
Tonight’s episode had the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd as the special guest, sitting in a chair on the stage in front of a seemingly ever-applauding audience.
Whilst Q&A is a great forum for Australian citizens to ask questions of politicians who have no choice but to answer them immediately, it started to remind me of an episode of Jerry Springer when, after almost every question and nearly every answer, the audience interrupted with applause.
Our Prime Minister (the comedian) would occasionally pepper his remarks with a joke or a quip, like “When’s the ad by the way?” (The ABC obviously not having mid-program ads). This was great, because it was Kevin Rudd showing the nation what he does best after all the practice (and no doubt active training) he’s had- relating to an audience. The only thing about it was that it kind of brought the tone of the program down. Kevin Rudd is also a professional at asking questions of himself before the audience get the chance, and then answering them. For himself. (He’s been doing it on Lateline for yonks.)
Or starting every sentence with “When it comes to..”
or “When you look at..”
I tend to prefer something a little more balanced like “Insight” on SBS, or ABC’s “Difference of Opinion” where different people from different sides of the argument get to have an educated input, instead of a politician placating a populist audience with weasel words.
Last thought – this was “Lateline” on crack.
