Saturday, May 08, 2010

How Does One Get To Blog For The Beeb?

Every time there's a political news story on the radio, a blogger is hauled in for comment and described as a "Conservative blogger" or a "Liberal blogger" (it's possible those appellations might require a small "c", but that's hard to tell on the radio).

When I listened to a debate one of those internet commentators was involved in on Friday morning, I found myself wondering firstly, how a person would get a big enough profile in this vast ocean of opinionated swine to be called on by the BBC to share their wisdom; and secondly, how the vagaries of an intelligent mind could be squeezed into a box marked "Conservative" or "Liberal".

Or perhaps the minds of these bloggers don't have vagaries. Perhaps they think quite naturally within the perameters of their party's manifesto. This Liberal Democrat commentator on Five Live (I forget her name, tellingly), would not be drawn on what her own preference would be with regard to Nick Clegg's potential alliance with either Labour or the Conservatives. The presenter pounded her mercilessly, but all she would say was, "I think we should wait and see what Nick does."

I would have said, "If he makes an alliance with Gordon Brown the public will hate him for a thousand years. If he makes an alliance with David Cameron Satan will suck him down into Hell."

Maybe that's why I don't get invitations to speak on the BBC.

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