Snoozenight

Newsnight has a new editor. Ian Katz has been in pace for less than two months, and in that time he’s made his priorities very clear. Less of that “boring snoring” news coverage and in depth analysis of political stories – there’s clearly way too much of that on the telly, it’s a saturated market.

No what’s needed is more pizazz, more celebrity, more showbiz.

So we’ve had Cookie Monster and Russell Brand both doing their acts and giving us some much needed insight into very little.

Please don’t get me wrong, I quite like both Cookie Monster and Brand. But I didn’t learn anything from either of them (I already knew that Cookie Monster likes cookies).

Brand offered a fairly fatuous argument about why voting makes you complicit and not voting leads to revolution which will also lead to global action to halt climate change, mass redistribution of wealth and free kittens for all. This all sounds nice, but his utter and complete inability to offer the first practical step towards how it will actually be achieved simply made it feel more – not less – distant and unconnected with the immediate lives and needs of real people than the politics he despises.

Politics doesn’t work for many people and the system is stacked against the poor. But I have also seen local councillors fight until a families housing needs are met, changing at a stroke the lives and life chances of their children. I have seen women able to leave abusive relationships thanks to the support they received through their child tax credits. I have seen decision made at local levels about free school meals, library services and arts provision that enable children to live free, stretch their imaginations and grow.

There are plenty of good reasons to hate the current political system and plenty of good reasons to want to change it. I agree with Brand that change is inevitable as well as desirable. In the 21st century, we cannot simply continue to do politics to people, it must be a more collaborative experience for all concerned.

For those in charge, it means sharing and giving up some decision making for the greater good. For everyone else it means getting involved and taking the responsibility that comes with a role in decision making.

What is doesn’t mean is moving from a system where we a ruled over by distant politicians to a system where we blindly follow iconoclasts. Brand is an incredibly eloquent comedian. So much so that it is hard to realise how little he actually has to say. But if Newsnight were interested in truly changing the paradigm of our understanding, why not give over 10 minutes to interviewing an extremely eloquent bus driver, call centre worker or shop owner. We couldn’t hear less actual ideas from them than from Brand, and we might – in fact – hear more. Ideas rooted in the daily reality of the experiences of the 99% not the romanticised view of a celebrity.

Newsnight still has some excellent journalism. And I understand the temptation to sprinkle in some ratings/coverage magic. There are arguments that it is the best way to open up that journalism to a wider audience. There is absolutely a role for irreverence, for cynicism and for downright rejectionism. But I don’t believe we are running short of these qualities in our political coverage or media.

What we do lack is indepth analysis. What connects incredibly complicated ideas and makes them work. Politics is complicated and deserves forensic examination (which doesn’t simply mean Jeremy Paxman sneering and never letting a politician get a word in edgewise). And Newsnight should remain true to it’s remit in delivering that.

We – the public – deserve lots of different types of access to political conversations and lots of different levels of examination of political ideas. We have more channels of communication than ever before. So why does it feel like what we are being offered is narrowing?